mining-impacted soil from southeastern China

Both soil and plant samples of nine different plant species grown in soils from southeastern China contaminated with uranium mine tailings were analyzed for the plant uptake and translocation of U, Ra and Th. Substantial differences were observed in the soileplant transfer factor (TF) among these radionuclides and plant species. Lupine (Lupinus albus) exhibited the highest uptake of U (TF value of 3.7!10 ), while Chinese mustard (Brassica chinensis) had the least (0.5!10 ). However, in the case of Ra and Th, the highest TFs were observed for white clover (Trifolium pratense) (3.4!10 ) and ryegrass (Lolium perenne) (2.1!10 ), respectively. Th in the tailings/soil mixture was less available for plant uptake than Ra or U, and this was especially evident for Chinese mustard and corn (Zea mays). The root/shoot (R/S) ratios obtained for different plants and radionuclides shown that Indian * Corresponding author. Tel.: C86 10 6293 6940. E-mail address: [email protected] (Y.G. Zhu). 0265-931X/$ see front matter 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2005.01.009 224 S.B. Chen et al. / J. Environ. Radioactivity 82 (2005) 223e236 mustard had the smallest R/S ratios for both Ra (5.3G1.2) and Th (5.3G1.7), while the smallest R/S ratio for U was observed in clover (2.8G0.9). 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.