Sunflower as adsorbent of cesium

Sunflower is reported to adsorb cesium, and the use for the decontamination of soil from the unstable isotope had been suggested . This decontamination is important after the Fukushima disaster (2011) .

Several authors had indicated, that sunflowers are not efficient in the decontamination . The mechanical removal of 3 cm layer of soil is reported to be more efficient.

Opposite points of view on the efficiency of decontamination of the area around the Fukushima nuclear plant by phytoremediation by sunflowers are presented in publications.

Freak
The promoters of sunflowers for decontamination should make the scientific test of the efficiency of the method they suggest. The initial contamination should be measured (for example, in Becquerel per square meter, of becquerel per kilogram of the soil), the contamination of the sunflowers after they grown-up and cut-out, and the contamination of the ground after the removal of the sunflowers. Also, the amount of radioactivity taking away with insects and birds, who consume the contaminated sunflowers, should be estimated.

While such measurements are not presented or do not confirm the significant reduction of the radioactivity of the ground after the removal of sunflowers, the proposals of the sunflowers for decontamination are qualified as freak, a pseudo–scientific project.

Keywords
Cesium, Fukushima disaster, Japan, Sunflower