Transfer of natural radionuclides from soil to plants and grass in the Western North of West Bank Environment, Palestine

Abstract

The transfer factors of radionuclides (226Ra, 238U, 232Th, 40K and fallout radionuclides 137Cs) from soil to plant and grass collected from the north-west of West Bank environment–Palestine were measured. For soil to plant, the average transfer factor (TF) values were found to be 0.60, 0.50, 0.31, and 1.70 for 226Ra, 238U, 232Th and 40K respectively. For soil to grass the TF values were found to be 1.26, 1.12, 1.15 and 1.20 for 226Ra, 238U, 232Th and 40K respectively. For soil to plant, the average transfer factor values were found to be 0.27 for fallout radionuclides 137Cs. The TF showed wide variation in different species, while a few species of plants indicated preferential uptake of these radionuclides. TF average values from soil to grass were found to be higher than from soil to plant. Results showed that part of the total 226Ra in agricultural soils were from phosphate fertilizers. Because the species of plants were directly involved in the human food chain, information on the concentration level and transfer of radionuclides from soil to plants will provide important data for the environmental risk assessment in such zones. These results have been compared with those of different countries of the world.