Some Observations on Absorption of Cesium by Excised Barley Roots

Abstract

Because Cs 137 is one of the major long-lived products of nuclear fission, there is a growing interest in the uptake of cesium by plants and its subsequent introduction into food chains. At the same time. the fact that Cs is readily absorbed by plants from culture solutions makes it useful in studies of the general aspects of ion uptake. Its use has the additional advantage that the initial cesium content of the tissue is essentially zero. The purpose of the following study was to establish some fundamental relationships in Cs absorption such as the influence of external Cs concentration, the influence of lou- temperature and anoxybiosis, and the interaction with other mono- and divalent cations.