137Cs and 210Po Concentrations and Determination of Transfer Factors From Soil to Plant in Izmit Bay

Abstract

Kocaeli province that has a front place in Turkey for the industrial facilities has encountered a high level of environmentpollution caused by not taking precautions which is much higherthan average value of Turkey, and there is not enough information about the portion of radioactive pollution. For this purpose, soil (20 cm), moss, and lichen samples have been taken from three different regions at mountainous, lakeside, and settling areas of Izmit Bay. The datarelated to radionuclides of 137Cs and 210Po in these organisms in Izmit Bay are not available so far.
In this study, therefore, the activity levels of radionuclides of 137Cs (t1/2 = 30.17 years) and 210Po (t1/2 = 138 days) have been measured in soil and some bioindicators (lichens and mosses) by using gamma and alpha counting systems, respectively. Additionally, transfer factors of 137Cs have been calculated. The obtained results will be reference information for future studies and the sake of precaution againstpossible radiation contamination.