Decontamination of radioactive liquid wastes by hydrophytic vegetal organisms

This paper deals with the bioaccumulation of some radioactive ions from contaminated waste solutions, on hydrophytic vegetal organisms. In order to follow the distribution of radioactive ions ¹³⁷Cs⁺, ⁶⁰Co²⁺ and ⁵¹Cr³⁺ in various cell components extracted from Spirulina platensis, Porphiridium cruentum, Scenedesmus quadricauda, Lemna minor,Elodea canadensis, Pistia stratiotes and Riccia fluitans, the plants were cultivated in radioactive solutions. The resulting complexes were extracted with acetone or acetic acid and separated chromatographically. The results show an intense activity of the polysaccharide and lipoid fractions in the bioaccumulation process. The bioaccumulation varies in the series: Spirulina>Scenedesmus>Porphiridium>Riccia>Pistia> Lemna ³ Elodea for ¹³⁷Cs⁺ and ⁶⁰Co²⁺; Spirulina>Porphiridium>Scenedesmus>Riccia>Pistia>Lemna>Elodea for ⁵¹Cr³⁺.