LEVELS OF CESIUM, MERCURY AND LEAD IN FISH, AND CESIUM IN POND SEDIMENTS IN AN INHABITED REGION OF THE UKRAINE NEAR CHERNOBYL

Samples of crucian carp (Carassius carassius) and sediments collected from 14 ponds within and outside the 30 km exclusion zone southeast of Chernobyl were analyzed for radiocesium; major anions and cations in water were determined for each pond, and other atmospherically-transpo rted pollutants (Pb and Hg) were measured in fish muscle. Up to 20 sed iment samples were collected from each pond. Median sediment radiocesi um was less than or equal to 1 Bq g(-1) dry mass in all ponds, but som e samples contained up to II Bq g(-1) dry mass. The distribution of ra diocesium was very patchy, and could vary over 100% in samples collect ed a few meters apart. Fish muscle radiocesium ranged from below detec tion up to 8.2 Bq g(-1) dry mass and varied significantly among ponds. All Carassius muscle analyzed contained detectable Hg (0.03 to 1.28 m u g g(-1) dry mass), and most contained detectable Pb (up to 1.76 mu g g(-1) dry mass). Water chemistry was a poor predictor of fish contami nant burden, possibly due to the extreme patchiness of the contaminant distribution. Fish size was cor related with muscle Cs content in som e ponds, and negatively correlated with muscle,pb concentration, The d istributions of radioactive and nonradioactive contaminants were not s ignificantly correlated. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.