Distributions of selenium, iodine, lead, thorium and uranium in Japanese river waters

Long-lived radionuclides released from nuclear facilities, such as deep underground disposal facilities, could reach humans through several transfer paths in the environment. Uses of ground water and river water for agricultural field irrigation and for drinking water are important paths. In order to understand behavior of long-lived radionuclides in the terrestrial water environment, we carried out a natural analogue study, that is, measurement of selenium (Se), iodine (I), lead (Pb), thorium (Th) and uranium (U) concentrations in 45 Japanese rivers at 10 sampling points from the upper stream to the river mouth for each river. Geometric mean concentrations for Se, I, Pb, Th and U were 0.057, 1.4, 0.039, 0.0055, 0.0109 ng/mL, respectively. Distribution patterns from upper stream to river mouth were different by elements, for instance, the concentrations of I, Th and U increased when the sampling points were nearer the river mouth, while that of Se were almost constant. For Pb, the highest value was observed in the middle part of each river in many cases