Publication Abstract

The Accumulation of Plutonium by the European Lobster (Hommarus gammarus L.)

D.J. Swift

For ²³⁷Pu accumulation from seawater, the whole body concentration factors (CFs) for juvenile lobsters at 18°C did not exceed 250 over the 49 days of the study. Most ²³⁷Pu was accumulated by the gills and exoskeleton. Since homarid lobsters eat their exuviae after ecdysis, the whole body ²³⁷Pu content of recently moulted lobsters was also a function of the amount of ²³⁷Pu ingested with the exuviae. Consequently, organ/tissue content and CF values for individual lobsters reflected both the time since their last moult and their exposure time to ²³⁷Pu. Thesefactors precluded the calculation of mean whole body CF values or the accurate estimate of a mean steady state (C_ss) CF value.

Juvenile lobsters retained significantly more ²³⁷Pu from labelled food at 7-10°C than at 18°C. At 7°C, the biological half time for assimilated ²³⁷PU was about 28 days, at 10°C about 15 days and at 18°C about 8 days. Very little ²³⁷Pu was transported from the gut to the internal tissues (about 1 %); most was retained in the hepatopancreas.

Reference:

D.J. Swift, 1992. The Accumulation of Plutonium by the European Lobster (Hommarus gammarus L.). Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 16: 1-24.