Accumulations of artificial radionuclides 137Cs and 239+240Pu in anchovy from the Korean seas

Abstract

We investigated the accumulation patterns of the artificial radionuclides 137Cs and 239+240Pu in anchovy – categorized into four groups by size– from Korean seas. The activities of 137Cs and 239+240Pu were in the ranges of 74–137 mBq kg−1 and 0.27–3.21 mBq kg−1, respectively. They generally increased with increasing size (except for 239+240Pu in large anchovy), indicating radionuclide accumulation by seawater uptake through respiratory and/or higher feed capacity as a manifestation of growth. However, the activity of 239+240Pu decreased sharply in large anchovy. The calculated concentration factors (CFs) of 137Cs in anchovy were 10.9–20.2, which are an order of magnitude lower than those in other marine organisms. However, the CFs of 239+240Pu in adult anchovy were 14.0–162.8, which are significantly higher than those in other fishes and comparable (or even higher) to the IAEA recommendation values. The annual effective dose (AED) rates of 137Cs and 239+240Pu for anchovy consumption (per person) in South Korea were estimated to be 3.7 × 10−6–6.9 × 10−6 mSv yr−1 and 0.26 × 10−6–3.10 × 10−6 mSv yr−1, respectively. The AED from anchovy consumption is insignificant relative to that of natural radionuclides.