The transfer of ¹³⁷Cs and heavy metals to tissues within the organs of snails

This paper describes the dynamics of Cs-137 accumulation and its concentration ratio as well as that of some stable elements in the body, shell, gastrointestinal tract and albumin gland of a particular species of snail (terrestrial gastropod), namely the Giant African snail (Lissachatina fulica), after the long-term ingestion of contaminated forage and/or soil. The activity concentration of Cs-137 in the their bodies increased over the first 40 days of the experiment, after which the increase in the activity of this radionuclide significantly reduced. The distribution of Cs-137 in the body of a snail decreases as follows: gastrointestinal tract > body = albumin gland > shell. It was found that the contribution of soil towards the contamination of their bodies by Cs-137 is far less than that of forage. Although the biological availability of Pb and U in forage is one order of magnitude higher than in soil, the main contribution to the contamination of snails originates from soil.