[ RadSafe ] Chernobyl's radioactive trees -Radiosensitivy of trees

[Stewart Farber]

Regarding the radiosensitivity of trees, there are some very obscure
references about the subject written by a researcher named Irving J.
Russell. Russell's research was conducted when he was a professor of
Chemistry at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Boston.

I remember locating 2 of his research reports when I was trying to
understand the levels of Cs-137 I had measured in various areas of the US
and reported in a paper  [ Farber, S., "Cesium-137 in Wood Ash -Results of
Nationwide Survey"  -Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Health Physics
Society, Washington, DC, July 25, 1991 ]. I had a subtitle to the preceding
paper: "Woodburners and Organic Farmers  -Is it time to kiss your Ash
goodbye?" --really.  In 1991, I had organized analyses of Cs-137 in woodash
-- 47 samples from 17 contributors in 14 states. As of that date, Cs-137
analyses showed up to 21,000 pCi/kg ash [hardwood- generally oak]  in New
England, and up to 40,000 pCi Cs-137/kg ash [ also oak as I recall] in
Florida.

I do not have the papers by Russell at hand, just the references to his work
contained in my 1991 paper noted above. However, I recall Russell stated
that trees have very large chromosomes and are surprisingly sensitive to
external gamma or to internal dose from taking up Cs-137 and Sr-90 during
the peak periods of open air fallout. A few references by Russell about
trees:

Russell, I.J., "Radial Distribution of Fallout Nuclides and Radium Isotopes
in a 107 Year Oak Trunk," Department of Chemistry, Boston College, Chestnut
Hill, Mass., Report to the Atomic Energy Commission, New York Operations
Office, Report NYO-3756-7  --Russell reported that Cs-137 was measured in
the heartwood of this 107 year old tree, showing that there was no point in
looking at tree rings for some indication of when fallout may have been
taken up. Fallout radionuclides taken in by trees move rather freely through
a tree.  

A second paper by Russell:

Russell, I.J., "Some Factors Affecting Beta Particle Dose to Tree
Populations in the Eastern New England Area from Stratospheric Fallout to
1974," Department of Chemistry, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Mass, Final
Report to Atomic Energy Commission, Chicago Operations Office, Report
CH-3015-8, August 1974.

The above 2 papers by Russell are very unlikely to be found on-line because
they are part of what has been referred to as "grey literature" --research
that is poorly indexed and usually not published in the open literature.

It is worth noting that trees do not just take up radioactivity from
deposition to soil and subsequent uptake through their roots. Trees are able
to take in fine dusts through their leaves [foliar absorbtion]. When
airborne Cs-137 passes, trees freely take up the Cs-137 initially from their
leaves because they are doing whatever they can to get the potassium they
need as living things. And Cs and K move together in biological systems,  as
alkali metals in the same family of the periodic table.

Stewart Farber
farber at farber.info
203-441-8433

======================
-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of JPreisig at aol.com
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2012 1:12 AM
To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Chernobyl's radioactive trees

Hey Radsafe,
 
     Good Memory.  There was a gamma forest  experiment at Brookhaven.  
They showed us the
forest during the 1980 Summer Health Physics Training Program there.   By 
then, the source was
gone.  But you could see the former effects on tree growth of the  source
going radially outward from the original source position.  Trees close in
were shorter.  It  was pretty neat.
 
      Regards,   Joseph R. (Joe)  Preisig
 
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 7/8/2012 11:01:19 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
achris1999 at gmail.com writes:

Lawrence

I don't know about a reactor, but there was a  Cs-137 source used to study
this effect at Brookhaven, I think.  I  think that this also turned into a
study case in the production of  skyshine.

Cheers
cja

---------- Forwarded message  ----------
From: Lawrence Jacobi  <rjacobi at jacobiconsulting.net>
Date: Sun, Jul 8, 2012 at 4:38  PM
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Chernobyl's radioactive trees and the forest fire  risk
To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu

I also remember reading about  an experimental reactor in the USA that was
purposelly allowed to go  critical while suspended in air, leading to the
death of nearby pine  trees.  Does anyone remember the name of that
facility?

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18721292>
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