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

This paper describes the dynamics of (137)Cs 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 (137)Cs 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 (137)Cs 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 (137)Cs 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.