Abstract
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident released large amounts of radioactive substances into the environment and contaminated the soil of Tohoku and Kanto districts in Japan. Removal of radioactive materials from the environment is an urgent problem, and soil purification using plants is under consideration. This study monitored accumulation of radioactive cesium in wild plants grown on a grassy plain in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, to choose a plant species to use for the decontamination. Many plant species did not accumulate high levels of radioactive materials expect for Lamium purpureum, Pueraria lobata, Taraxacum officinale, T. platycarpum, and Vicia sativa subsp. nigra. These species accumulated 501 to 1,450 Bq/kg dry weight of 137Cs in the shoots.
