BRAWM Team: Comparison of East Bay Soil Samples - "bare" soil vs. "under grass" soil samples?

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 2011-08-11 23:07

Since the Cesium levels appear to be declining in the grass samples, would you please consider testing the soil immediately below those grass samples. It might tell us that the grass has phytoremediated the soil by "wicking-up" the Cesium if none is present in the soil below the grass....OR that the Cesium is "remaining in the soil" if it is still present in the samples tested.

PLEASE sample the soil immediately beneath the grass (to a depth of an inch or two or three) that you are taking grass measurements from in the EAST BAY. You might even include the dirt in the roots of the sod (grass).

THEN compare the "bare" soil sample with the "soil under the grass" sample...is there an appreciable difference? Is the grass helping to "remove" or "phytoremediate" the Cesium from the soil? OR are the samples reading about the same?

Is nature helping us here??? I have small grandchildren who love to play on the grass. They also love to play with water on the grass. How safe is it?

Thank you...

Posted by: Gardening Gal

‹ Alert Status BRAWM food monitoring is very important ›

Aren't you curious?

Submitted by Gardening Gal (not verified) on Sat, 2011-08-13 02:09.

As scientists, aren't you intellectually curious about the possible difference in the soil samples?

I know that you are busy, and school is beginning, but please consider doing these comparisons for us.

Thank you...

Hi Gardening Gal, Thanks for

Submitted by bandstra on Sat, 2011-08-13 12:13.

Hi Gardening Gal,

Thanks for your messages. That would be an interesting test, and I'll see what we can do about it in the coming weeks. Grass will certainly phytoremediate — most plants will absorb the radioactive isotopes to some extent.

As for safety, the levels in soil and grass that we have seen in the Bay Area are on the order of 1 decay per second per kilogram of topsoil or grass for both Cesium-134 and Cesium-137. The highest dose one would receive is from ingesting the soil or grass, and to get even a small dose of about 5 millirem it would still require eating over a ton of soil or grass. So in my estimation, playing in the grass and dirt is quite safe.

Mark [BRAWM Team Member]

Thank You!!

Submitted by Gardening Gal (not verified) on Sat, 2011-08-13 22:49.

Thank you, Mark. I await your results. You and your team are greatly appreciated. No where else in the country is anyone doing what your team is doing. I checked out your references to other universities, etc. working on this issue...and it is nothing compared to what you guys are doing. In fact, for the most part, it was a token effort in the very beginning of this crisis only.