Abstract
THE dispersion of radioactive contamination in the environment by mobile organisms has been reported by several authors. Davis1 noted significant amounts of radioactivity in caddis flies and midges (Orthocladiinae) attracted to lights from the nearby Columbia River. As the result of aquaria investigations on the uptake of radio -nuclides by aquatic insects, Peredelskii and Bogatyrev2 concluded that a bioecological purification of contaminated reservoirs would occur as the consequence of emergent insects flying to the surrounding watershed. Auerbach3 questioned their conclusions because the quantities of radioactivity transported by insects were less than that accumulated from fall-out. However, it was noted that lack of data on emergent insects biomass made it difficult to test the general applicability of the hypothesis. The purpose of this communication is to assess the role of emergent Chironomidae as vectors of strontium-90 and freshwater clams as reservoirs of strontium-90 in the Clinch and Tennessee Rivers.
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NELSON, D. Biological Vectors and Reservoirs of Strontium-90. Nature 203, 420 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/203420a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/203420a0
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