Do earthworms affect the uptake of radium and metals by grass? – Presentation at the 6^th European Congress on Radiation Protection

Soil is one of the most diverse habitats on Earth and soil life is essential for many ecosystem processes. Decomposers such as bacteria and earthworms have an essential function to make nutrients available for uptake by plants through bio-weathering and decomposition of organic material. At the same time, these processes can also enhance the bioavailability of pollutants in soil. Within this study, microcosm systems were used to mimic the natural interactions between soil, earthworms and vegetation and study the influence earthworms have on the bioavailability of radium and metals present in soil.

Nathalie Vanhoudt from the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN) will present the first results of this research which is part of RadoNorm task 2.6 during the 6^th European Congress on Radiation Protection from 30 May until 3 June 2022 in Budapest, Hungary (https://irpa2022.eu/).