Transfer of 137Cs and stable Cs in soil-grass-milk pathway in Aomori, Japan

The soil-to-grass transfer factors and grass-to-milk transfer coefficients were determined for 137Cs and stable Cs in soil, grass and milk samples collected in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The concentrations of 137Cs in the soil and grass samples collected from 25 sampling sites were 13±12 Bq.kg-1 and 2.0±2.1 Bq.kg-1 dry wt., respectively. The geometric mean of soil-to-grass transfer factor of 137Cs was 0.13 and its 95% confidence interval was 0.017-0.98. The transfer factor of 137Cs was higher than that of stable Cs, and they had a positive correlation. The concentration of K in the soil affected both transfer factors. The concentration of 137Cs in milk samples collected from 16 sites was 76±43 mBq.kg-1 fresh wt. and had a good correlation with that of stable Cs. The geometric mean of grass-to-milk transfer coefficient of 137Cs was 0.0027, assuming that a cow's total daily intake was 20 kg of dry grass. The transfer coefficient of 137Cs was positively correlated with that of stable Cs.