Abstract
Although radioactive contamination of agricultural land mayrequire food production to cease, in many situations food contamination can be kept below the intervention limits throughapplication of countermeasures. However, the radiological benefits of these measures may be accompanied by negative impacts on the environment. The aim of this work was to assessthe impacts of selected countermeasures on water quality via losses of soil and phosphorus in river catchments in Scotland and Finland. Four countermeasures, suitable for different levelsof radioactive deposition, were studied: deep ploughing, skim and burial ploughing, changes in the feeding of livestock andcessation of production. The assessments were performed using adeterministic mathematical simulation model capable of estimatingthe impact of changes in management practices and land use on thehydrology and on soil and phosphorus losses from land to water.Skim and burial ploughing had the least impacts. Deep ploughinggenerally reduced phosphorus losses but had variable effects on soil loss, which depended on the erodibility of the subsoil. Changes in the dairy feeding regime from roughage-dominated (local grass production) to more concentrates (local cereal production or imported) had variable impacts, depending on the local agricultural systems and management practices. The worstimpacts on erosion and phosphorus losses may occur where large areas of grassland are converted to cereal production. Cessationof agricultural production resulted in large (50–90%) reductions in soil and phosphorus losses. The most recommended ofthe assessed countermeasures is skim and burial ploughing, but its wider use depends on the availability of specialized technical equipment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bärlund, I. and Tattari, S.: 2001, 'Ranking of parameters on the basis of their contribution to model uncertainty'. Ecological Modelling 142, 11–23.
Bibby, J. S., Douglas, H. A., Thomasson, A. J. and Robertson, J. S.: 1991, Land Capability Classification for Agriculture, Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Aberdeen, 75 pp.
CEC: 1989, 'Council Regulation (Euratom) No. 2218/89 Amending Regulation (Euratom) No. 3954/87 Laying Down Maximum Permitted Levels of Radioactive Contamination of Food-stuffs and of Feedingstuffs Following a Nuclear Accident or any other Case of Radiological Emergency', Official Journal of the European Communities L211/1.
De Cort, M.: 1998, 'Atlas of Caesium Deposition on Europe after the Chernobyl Accident', Office for Official Publications of The European Communities, Luxembourg.
Ekholm, P., Kallio, K., Turtola, E., Rekolainen, S. and Puustinen, M.: 1999, 'Simulation of dissolved phosphorus from cropped and grassed clayey soils in Southern Finland', Agricul. Environ. Ecosyst. 72, 271–283.
Foster, G. R., Meyer, L. D. and Onstad, C. A.: 1977, 'A runoff erosivity factor and variable slope length exponents for soil loss estimates', Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers 20, 683–687.
Harstad, O. M.: 1994, Feeding of Dairy Cows. Compendium, Agricultural University of Norway (in Norwegian).
Heckrath, G., Brookes, P. C., Poulton, P. R. and Goulding, K. W. T: 1995, 'Phosphorus leaching from soils containing different phosphorus concentrations in the Broadbalk experiment', J. Environ. Qual. 24, 904–910.
Hove, K., Strand, P., Voigt, G., Jones, E. V., Howard, B. J., Segal, M. G., Pollaris, K. and Pearce, J.: 1993, 'Countermeasures for reducing radioactive contamination of farm animals and farm animal products', Sci. Tot. Environ. 137, 261–271.
Howard, B. J. and Beresford, N. A.: 1989, 'Chernobyl radiocaesium in an upland sheep farm ecosystem', Brit. Veterin. J. 145, 212–219.
IAEA: 1994a, 'Guidelines for Agricultural Countermeasures Following an Accidental Release of Radionuclides', Technical Report Series No. 363, IAEA, Vienna, 115 pp.
IAEA: 1994b, 'Handbook of Parameter Values for the Prediction of Radionuclide Transfer in Temperate Environments', Technical Report Series No. 364, IAEA, Vienna, 74 pp.
Knisel, W. G. (ed.): 1980, 'CREAMS, a Field Scale Model for Chemicals, Runoff and Erosion from Agricultural Management Systems', USDA, Conservation Research Report No. 26, 643 pp.
Knisel, W. G.: 1993, 'GLEAMS, Groundwater Loading Effects of Agricultural Management Systems', Version 2.1, UGA-CPES-BAED Publ. No. 5, University of Georgia, Tifton, GA.
Knisel, W. G. and Turtola, E.: 2000, 'Gleams model application on a heavy clay soil in Finland', Agricul. Water Manage. 43, 285–309.
Kronvagn, B., Grant, R., Larsen, S. E., Svendsen, L. M. and Kristensen, P.: 1995, 'Non-point source nutrient losses to the aquatic environment in Denmark: impact of agriculture', Mar. Freshwater Res. 46, 167–177.
Leonard, R. A., Knisel, W. G. and Still, D. A.: 1987, 'GLEAMS: Groundwater loading effects of agricultural management systems', Am. Soc. Agric. Eng. Trans. 30, 1403–1418.
Luoto, M., Rekolainen, S., Salt, C. A. and Hansen, H. S.: 2001, 'Managing radioactively contaminated land – implications for habitat diversity', Environ. Manage. 27, 595–608.
Nisbet, A. F.: 1995, 'Evaluation of the Applicability of Agricultural Countermeasures for Use in the U.K.', NRPB Report M551, National Radiation Protection Board, Didcot, 73 pp.
Orskov, E. R.: 1998, 'The Feeding of Ruminants, Principles and Practice', Chalcombe Publications, U.K.
Pote, D. H., Daniel, T. C., Sharpley, A. N., Moore Jr, P. A., Edwards, D. R. amd Nichols, D. J.: 1996, 'Relating extractable soil phosphorus to phosphorus losses in runoff', Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 60, 855–859.
Prister, B. S., Perepelyatnikov, G. P. and Perepelyatnikova, L. V.: 1993, 'Countermeasures used in the Ukraine to produce forage and animal food-products with radionuclide levels below intervention limits after the Chernobyl accident', Sci. Tot. Environ. 137, 183–198.
Ragg, J. M.: 1960, The Soils of the Country Round Kelso and Lauder, Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Soil Survey Memoir, HMSO, Edinburgh, 201 pp.
Rekolainen, S. and Posch, M.: 1993, 'Adapting the CREAMS model for finnish conditions', Nord. Hydrol. 24, 309–322.
Rekolainen, S., Pitkänen, H., Bleeker, A. and Felix, S.: 1995, 'Nitrogen and phosphorus fluxes from finnish agricultural areas to the Baltic Sea', Nord. Hydrol. 26, 55–72.
Rekolainen, S., Ekholm, P., Ulén, B. and Gustafson, A.: 1997, 'Phosphorus Losses from Agriculture to Surface Waters in the Nordic Countries' in H. Tunney, O. T. Carton, P. C. Brookes, and A. E. Johnston, (eds), Phosphorus Loss from Soil to Water, CAB International, Wallingford, New York, pp. 77–93.
Ritchie, J. T.: 1972, 'A model for predicting evaporation from a row crop with incomplete cover', Water Resour. Res. 8, 1204–1213.
Roed, J., andersson, K. G. and Prip, H.: 1996, 'The skim and burial plough: a new implement for reclamation of radioactively contaminated land', Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 33, 117–128.
Salt, C. A. and Culligan-Dunsmore, M.: 2000, 'Development of a spatial decision support system for post-emergency management of radioactively contaminated land', J. Environ. Manage. 58, 169–178.
Salt, C. A., Hansen, H. S., Kirchner, G., Lettner, H., Rekolainen, S. and Culligan Dunsmore, M.: 1999, 'Impact Assessment Methodology for Side-Effects of Countermeasures against Radio-nuclide Contamination in Food Products', Research Report No. 1, Nord-TrØndelag College, Steinkjer, Norway, 44 pp.
Salt, C. A. and Rafferty, B.: 2001, 'Assessing potential secondary effects of countermeasures in agricultural systems: a review', J. Environ. Radioact. 56, 99–114.
Sharpley, A. N., Jones, C. A., Gray, C. and Cole, C. V.: 1984, 'A simplified soil and plant phosphorus model: II. Prediction of labile, organic and sorbed phosphorus', Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 48, 805–809.
Sibbesen, E., Hansen, A. C., Nielsen, J. D. and Heidman, T.: 1994, 'Runoff, Erosion and Phosphorus Losses from various Cropping Systems in Denmark', in R. J. Rickson (ed.), Conserving Soil Resources, CAB International, Wallingford, pp. 87–93.
Speirs, R. B. and Frost, C. A.: 1985, 'The increasing incidence of accelerated soil water erosion on arable land in the east of Scotland', Resear. Develop. Agricul. 2, 161–167.
Tattari, S. and Bärlund, I.: 2001, 'The concept of sensitivity in sediment yield modelling', Phys. Chem. Earth (B) 26, 27–31.
Tattari, S., Bärlund, I., Rekolainen, S., Posch, M., Siimes, K., Tuhkanen, H.-R. and Yli-Halla, M.: 2001, 'Modelling sediment yield and phosphorus transport in finnish clayey soils', Transactions of ASAE 44(2), 297–307.
Turtola, E. and Jaakkola, A.: 1995, 'Loss of phosphorus by surface runoff and leaching from a heavy clay soil under barley and grass ley in Finland', Acta Agricul. Scand. Sect. B, Soil Plant Sci. 45, 159–165.
Tveten, U., Brynildsen, L. I., Amundsen, I. and Bergan, T. D. S.: 1998, 'Economic consequences of the Chernobyl accident in Norway in the decade 1986–1995', J. Environ. Radioact. 41, 233–255.
USDA-SCS: 1972, National Engineering Handbook: Section 4, Hydrology, Washington, DC, 548 pp.
Van der Molen, D. T., Breeuwsma, A. and Boers, P. C. M.: 1998, 'Agricultural nutrient losses to surface water in the Netherlands: impact, strategies, and perspectives', J. Environ. Qual. 27, 4–11.
Vovk, I. F., Blagoyev, V. V., Lyashenko, A. N. and Kovalev, I. S.: 1993, 'Technical approaches to decontamination of terrestrial environments in the CIS (former U.S.S.R.)', Sci. Tot. Environ. 137, 49–63.
Vuorinen, J. and Mäkitie, O.: 1955, 'The method of soil testing in use in Finland', Agrogeol. Publ. 6(3), 1–44.
Vuorenmaa, J., Rekolainen, S., Lepistö, A., Kenttämies, K. and Kauppila, P.: 2001, 'Losses of nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural and forest areas in Finland during the 1980s and 1990s', Environ. Monit. Assess. 76, 213–248.
Wade, R. J.: 1998, 'A Quantitative Study of Waterborne Soil Erosion on Arable Land in Eastern Scotland – Towards Erosion Prediction', Ph.D. Thesis, Dundee University, U.K.
Williams, E. G. and Saunders, W. M.: 1956, 'Significance of particle size fractions in readily soluble phosphorus extractions by the acetic, truog and lactate methods', J. Soil Sci. 7, 189–202.
Wilkerson, V. A., Mertens, D. R. and Casper, D. P.: 1997, 'Prediction of excretion of manure and nitrogen by Holstein dairy cattle', J. Dairy Sci. 80, 3193–3204.
Yli-Halla, M., Hartikainen, H., Ekholm, P., Turtola, E., Puustinen, M. and Kallio, K.: 1995, 'Assessment of soluble phosphorus load in surface runoff by soil analyses', Agricul. Ecosys. Environ. 56, 53–62.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rekolainen, S., Salt, C.A., Bärlund, I. et al. Impacts of the Management of Radioactively Contaminated Land on Soil and Phosphorus Losses in Finland and Scotland. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 139, 115–136 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015818902034
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015818902034