Researchers in Sweden have discovered that mushrooms found in the country still contain radioactive particles from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine.
Small amounts of radioactive cesium-137 and strontium-90 were detected in mushrooms collected from various locations in central and southern Sweden.
This shows that radioactive particles from Chernobyl were transported through the atmosphere and deposited over large parts of Europe, even as far as Scandinavia.
The long-term monitoring of radioactivity in Swedish mushrooms and forests can provide important information on how radioactive particles from the accident were dispersed and impact ecosystems over decades.
Analysis of mushrooms that have absorbed radioactive contamination from the environment is a sensitive way to track the historically deposition and transport of radiation.
Data from Sweden can help scientists better understand the long-term effects and migration of radioactivity in northern European forests in the 38 years since the Chernobyl disaster.
Source: US News & World Report
