The radioactive materials dangerous at the moment

At the moment, the most hazardous radioactive materials in Ukraine are the Cesium 137 and Strontium 90. Those two materials are absorbed from the soil by the plants and were found in human body about 1 year after the Chernobyl disaster. The Ukrainian region of Polesia has been not only heavily contaminated, but was also faced with another problem because of its poor soil. When the soil is lacking of Potassium, plants absorb Cesium instead, and when it is poor in Calcium, they absorb Strontium. The scientific properties of Potassium are similar to the Cesium ones and the Calcium’s with the Strontium’s.

If you mix potassium fertilizer with the soil, pollution of crops will drop by more than three quarters.

Besides, the region of Polesia is mainly composed of acid soils, which results in the dissolution of Cesium and Strontium in water. According to the characteristics of the soil, the consequences will be very different but in some cases, the absorption by the plants can be multiplied by 100.

Cesium strongly bound to minerals

Radioactive Cesium binds strongly with minerals. The smaller the mineral particles are, the stronger the Cesium will be bound to them.

Japan’s paddy fields are made of clay soils, so that Cesium binds to the clay and can’t be absorbed much by the plants. On the other hand, Polesia’s forests are mostly composed of organic matter and sand made of big particles, so that Cesium can’t combine with the soil and end up migrating to the vegetation. Even if a high quantity of Cesium drops on the soil, it won’t be absorbed by the plants if they are growing in clay soil, and the crops will eventually be pollution-free.

Cesium is water-soluble

Cesium doesn’t produce any chemical combination in the human or vegetal organisms, but it associates with water. When water is being eliminated from the body through sweat or urine, Cesium is eliminated together. Thus, drinking a lot of water is an efficient way of lowering the amount of Cesium in the organism.

By boiling meat, 80% of the Cesium contained inside is eliminated in the broth. The broth obtained at the beginning just has to be thrown away to get rid of the Cesium contained inside.

In Fukushima too, people living in the contaminated areas must not fear the radioactivity, because the fear itself would cause harm to the body. However, they still have to take countermeasures to protect their health.