Plutonium contamination of vegetation in dusty field environments

Transport of plutonium in food chains of grazing animals and mankind by vegetation carriers becomes an important avenue of contamination in dusty field environments. Findings indicate that most of the activity present in vegetation of such areas at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) is superficial contamination resulting from the attachment of particles to foliage surfaces during resuspension. We suspect, however, that the root uptake pathway eventually will become more significant as the result of natural concentration and recycling processes at work in the field within the plant root zone