The effect of ammonium ferric hexacyanoferrate on reducing radiocaesium transfer from grass silage to sheep

Abstract

A study was carried out to examine the effect of ammonium ferric hexacyanoferrate (AFCF) on the transfer of radiocaesium from grass silage to the tissues of male lambs. During ensiling, a formic acid based additive and AFCF were sprayed on grass contaminated with 134Cs and the mixture was allowed to incubate for 45 days. A dose of 21 mg AFCF d-1, fed to sheep offered contaminated silage for fourteen days, reduced 134Cs transfer to muscle by 45% compared to that of control sheep. An equivalent dose of AFCF administered in a capsule reduced transfer by only 3%. In another experiment, AFCF intake of 50, 100 and 150 mg d-1 for ten days reduced 134Cs transfer to sheep muscle by 75, 82 and 86%, respectively. In control lambs, of average live weight 38 and 47 kg, the feed to muscle 134Cs transfer coefficient averaged 0.15 d kg-1, but equilibrium between tissue and feed 134Cs had probably not been reached due to the short feeding period. Increasing doses of AFCF from 0 to 150 mg d-1 increased the faecal/urinary 134Cs ratio from 2 to 42.;