Measuring of radioactive contamination by Gamma-ray Spectroscopy for many water projects in Baghdad City

The study aims to provide the effective monitoring of radioactive contents in refining water stations. Attempts were made to measure the radionuclide’s concentrations level which indicates to radioactive contamination in the samples of raw water taken from the Tigris River and samples of river sediments. The radionuclides contents have been obtained using the gamma-ray spectroscopy technique. Analysis system (HPGe) has been applied to measure the radioactivity concentration of Uranium, Radium, and Thorium in water and sediment samples. For solid samples (sediments), results have shown that the activity for238U the range was from (52±5.31Bq/kg)In S4 to(120±8)in S3, for 232Th the range was from(26±2.4Bq/kg)in S1to (48±3.1Bq/kg) in S3, for 40K, the range was from (247±17Bq/kg) in s4 to (453±18Bq/kg) in S3, for 137Cs the range was from(1.28±0.1Bq/kg) in S3 to (7.8±0.67) in S2. For liquid samples (water), the activity for 238U was from (10±1 Bq/l) in Kh1to(38±4.2Bq/l) in D1, for 232Th was from (1±0.35Bq/l) in kD1 to (1.8±0.60Bq/l) in D1, for 40K was from (10±0.3 Bq/l), in ka1to(48±5.7Bq/l) in KD1. In the final step (drinking water) showed only 40K isotope appeared at range(18±0.03 - 55±0.06Bq/l).

Radioactive Contamination Countermeasures, Food Inspection Systems, and the Issue of Reputational Damage in the Early Stages of the Nuclear Disaster in Fukushima Prefecture

This paper overviews the achievements and challenges of radioactive contamination countermeasures, food inspection systems, and reputational damage to agricultural products in Fukushima Prefecture during the early stages of the Great East Japan Earthquake and nuclear disaster. It outlines the effectiveness of early countermeasures such as absorption control measures and soil decontamination, and observes how efforts aimed at revitalizing afflicted areas were initiated and advanced primarily through the leadership of residents and agricultural producers. Furthermore, it examines food inspection systems such as the “all-bag-all-volume” testing system for rice that was implemented in Fukushima, and suggests that a failure to extend such countermeasures to outside of Fukushima Prefecture was a contributing factor to the ongoing issue of reputational damage and consumer reluctance to purchase products from the area. Lastly, the paper categorizes early consumer trends in four groups based on differing perceptions of risk and safety, and concludes that dealing with reputational damage should entail creating maps of radioactive material distribution, and also building a rational inspection system that allows consumers to objectively identify the safety of agricultural products.

Ovarian Malignancies Frequency in the Female Population from the Bryansk Region Living in Conditions of Radioactive, Chemical and Combine Contamination (2000–2020)

Background: Radioactive contamination and chemical pollution of the environment can affect the processes of carcinogenesis, including the formation of malignant neoplasms of the ovaries in women. We used the data of official state statistics for 2000–2020 to test the hypothesis about the effect of radioactive contamination (following the Chernobyl disaster) and chemical pollutants on the incidence of ovarian malignancies in the female population of the Bryansk region. Methods: A variety of statistical approaches were used to estimate the incidence of ovarian malignancies, including the Shapiro–Wilk test, Mann–Whitney U test, Spearman’s rank correlation test and linear regression. Results: We did not establish statistically significant differences in the frequency of primary morbidity of women with malignant neoplasms of the ovaries, regardless of the environmental conditions of living. Furthermore, no significant correlations were found between the frequency of primary morbidity of ovarian malignancies, both with the level of contamination by Cesium-137 and Strontium-90, and air pollution with volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. A statistically significant increase in the long-term trend in the frequency of ovarian malignant neoplasms was revealed in the areas of chemical pollution (p = 0.02), however, in other territories, no statistically significant regularities were established. The forecast of the frequency of newly diagnosed malignant neoplasms of the ovaries on average in the Bryansk region shows an increase of 12.4% in 2020 in comparison with the real data for 2020, while the largest increase in predicted values is recorded in the territories of radioactive contamination (by 79.6%), and the least in the combined territories (by 6.9%). Conclusions: The results obtained indicate the need for further work to understand the trends in the presence/absence of independent and combined effects of pollutants and the growth of oncogynecological pathology from the perspective of assessing the distant and regional metastasis, histological and immunohistochemical profile of a specific malignant ovarian neoplasm with levels of environmental contamination.

Zeolite — natural ameliorant for dry meadow polluted by caesium-137

Исследовательская работа выполнена в Новозыбковском районе Брянской области на естественном суходольном лугу, подвергшемся радиоактивному загрязнению в результате аварии на Чернобыльской АЭС. Загрязнение территории радиоактивными веществами, возникшее в результате чернобыльской катастрофы, создало целый ряд проблем для ведения сельскохозяйственного производства. Одной из них является проблема использования естественных луговых экосистем, загрязнённых цезием-137, в качестве сенокосов и пастбищ. Травостой естественных лугов накапливает радионуклида больше, чем травостой, выращенный на обработанной сельхозорудиями почве. В этой связи поиск доступных, эффективных и экономически выгодных мер, позволяющих получать на естественных лугах продукцию, соответствующую нормативным показателям, имеет важное значение. Целью исследовательской работы было изучение влияния цеолита Хотынецкого месторождения на переход радионуклида из почвы в растение на естественном суходольном лугу. Для этого в августе на поверхность почвы опытных делянок вносили цеолит в объёме 0,5 и 1% от массы пахотного слоя. Через год отбирали сопряжённые пробы почвы и растений. После подготовки в них определяли концентрацию цезия-137, а также агрохимические, физико-химические показатели почвы и урожайность. В ходе выполнения исследовательской работы было установлено, что использование цеолита в качестве мелиоранта луга не оказало достоверного влияния на снижение радионуклида в травостое (сене) и на увеличение Hr, S, EKO, V, калия и фосфора. Однако достоверно увеличился показатель рН. Внесение цеолита на опытные делянки в количестве 0,5 и 1% от массы пахотного слоя почвы оказало выраженное положительное влияние на урожайность сена. The investigation took place in the Bryansk region. The territory of natural dry meadow was contaminated there due to the Chernobyl disaster. Radioactive contamination significantly impacts agriculture in the area. Caesium-137 presented in soil hinders hay and green forage production. Natural plant ecosystems accumulate more radionuclide than the ones grown on farm fields. Therefore, those methods are of the highest interest that allow production of healthy forage in that area. The aim of the research was to analyze the effect of the zeolite from the Khotynetskiy district on the radionuclide movement from soil to plants. In August the zeolite (0.5 and 1% of soil mass) was applied in soil. One year later soil and plant samples were tested for caesium-137 as well as agrochemical, physical, chemical properties and productivity. As a result, the zeolite had no significant impact on the accumulation of caesium-137 in hay as well as Hr, S, EKO, V, K or P. In contrast, рН grew significantly and hay yield increased.

Nonscalability of “citizen science” in post-Fukushima Japan: Unpacking articulations of citizen radiation measuring organizations

This article explores and discusses understandings of citizen science with members of Japanese citizen radiation measuring organizations who began measuring radioactive contamination in food, soil, air, and human bodies after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. Building on in-depth interviews with organization members and extensive multi-site fieldwork (2018, 2020), the article takes shimin kagaku (citizen science in Japanese) to examine articulations of citizenship and science, while discussing citizen radiation measuring organization activities. Adopting Tsing’s notion of nonscalability, it draws attention to the manifold articulations of citizenship and science, unearthing frictions embedded in Japanese science–society relations. In this way, this article outlines the diversity of notions of citizenship and science, and of citizen participatory practices in science. By bringing nonscalability to bear on an analysis of different articulations of shimin kagaku, this article encourages scientists and public authorities to engage with citizen participatory practices reflexively and responsibly by considering local articulations and knowledges.

QUALITY OF HELIANTHUS ANNUUS HONEY OBTAINED IN THE CONDITIONS OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION

Natural honey is a source of vital amino acids, easily digestible carbohydrates, macro, microelements, biologically active substances that determine nutritional, antibacterial and antioxidant properties. In the conditions of man-caused pollution of Polissya of Ukraine due to the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, systematic control of the quality and safety of beekeeping products is important. To conduct such research, we created a group of twelve bee families - analogs of the Ukrainian breed, medium strength. Families were kept in unified multifunctional hives. At the beginning of the honey harvest, the bee families were transported to the sunflower fields, where they stayed during the blossoming of the plants. The density of radioactive contamination of 137Cs soils where sunflower was grown was 47.0 kBq / m2. We used organoleptic, physicochemical, microscopic, microbiological, and radiological methods in the study. According to standard methods, we studied the species composition of pollen grains, physicochemical parameters of centrifugal, honeycomb, and «zabrus» sunflower honey.(zabrus honey was obtained from wax caps, which we cut with an apiary knife from honeycombs filled with nectar and sealed by bees). The content of lead (Pb) in honey from sunflower obtained in the conditions of Polissya is 1.8 - 2.1 times higher than the State sanitary norms. The largest amount of it is in the centrifugal honey. In acceptable amounts, the heavy metals cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and 137Cs were present in honey. Pesticides, dichlorodiphenyltrichloromethylmethane, and hexachlorane were not detected in the samples. We investigated the bactericidal action against bacterial growth of typical cultures of Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus. Zubrus sunflower honey showed the highest antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. We found that the value of antioxidant activity (AOA) of sunflower honey depends on the method of its production, duration of storage, and solutions of extracts (alcohol, aqueous) used in research. Laboratory control of transgenic organisms in flowers and sunflower pollen did not reveal the target sequences of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter and the NOS terminator (nopaline synthase) of the plasmid Agrobacterium tumefaciens.