TRANSFER-FACTORS OF 31 ELEMENTS IN SEVERAL AGRICULTURAL PLANTS COLLECTED FROM 150 FARM FIELDS IN AOMORI, JAPAN

Soil-to-plant transfer factors of 31 stable elements were determined b y neutron activation analysis. The transfer factor is one of the impor tant parameters used to estimate the internal radiation dose from radi onuclides through food ingestion. In the present study, 12 species of agricultural plants such as root crops, fruit vegetables, green vegeta bles and pasture grasses, and their soils were collected from 150 farm fields in Aomori prefecture, Japan. The elements described are those that could be detected by this method, which include both essential an d nonessential elements for plant growth. The concentrations of indivi dual elements in the cultivated soil samples for each plant were simil ar in values and their standard deviations were within one order of ma gnitude, because of the relatively narrow geographic sampling area. Th e elements were classified into two groups, each having different tran sfer factor characteristics. in the first group of elements there was an inverse correlation between the transfer factors and the concentrat ions of elements in the soil, especially for Cl, K and Ca. In the seco nd group, especially Sc and Co, however, the transfer factors were ind ependent of the concentrations of elements in the soil.