Foliar and root uptake of Cs, Sr and Zn in processing tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.)

The results of an experimental study on the behaviour of ¹³⁴Cs, ⁸⁵Sr and ⁶⁵Zn in processing tomato plants grown in peat substrate are presented. Plants were contaminated by wet deposition of ¹³⁴Cs, ⁸⁵Sr and ⁶⁵Zn, either by sprinkling the above ground part at two phenological stages or by administering ¹³⁴Cs, ⁸⁵Sr and ⁶⁵Zn to the soil. The plants contaminated at the second phenological stage intercepted 38.3% less than those contaminated at the first stage, although leaf area increased by more than double. Transfer coefficients from peat soil to ripe fruit for ¹³⁴Cs are significantly higher than those for ⁸⁵Sr and ⁶⁵Zn. Leaf to fruit transfer coefficients for ¹³⁴Cs are one order of magnitude higher than for ⁶⁵Zn and two orders higher than for ⁸⁵Sr. Only when deposition affects fruits, as at the second phenological stage, are transfer coefficients to fruits similar for the three radionuclides.