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Tom Hinton,
Ph.D
University
of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
Aiken, SC 29802
(803) 725-7454;
thinton@srel.edu
Research
Theme: Radioactive Contaminants
in Terrestrial Ecosystems (Terr)
Dr. Hinton has published numerous papers on plant
uptake of radioactive contaminants. His work has shown
that predictions of radioactive contaminant mobility
based on laboratory derived results from sequential
extraction of contaminants in soils cannot be extended
to estimate plant uptake of contaminants in the field.
These findings are important when determining the
need for cleanup, as well as when evaluating remediation
success.
The majority of
Dr. Hinton's terrestrial radioecological research
concerns the contamination of vegetation from radionuclides
attached to resuspended soil particles. Conducted
largely in the Ukraine and Switzerland, this work
has concentrated on the role of resuspension in the
contamination of agricultural plants. Whereas other
researchers have shown resuspension to be a dominant
pathway of contaminant transport in arid southwestern
environments of the United States, Dr. Hinton's work
demonstrated that resuspension can be important in
mesic climates as well, particularly when pastures
are disturbed by grazing animals. Dr. Hinton also
explored the fate of the contaminant adhering to leaf
surfaces and was the first to quantify the foliar
absorption of radionuclides resuspended onto plant
surfaces (Fig. 1).
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Figure
1. Methods
for quantifying the various pathways of plant
contamination developed by Dr. Hinton included
the application of a liquid polymer to contaminated
leafs. Analysis of the polymer, when dried and
stripped from the leaf, allowed Dr. Hinton to
separate adhering radioactivity from that incorporated
into plant tissues.
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Relevant works
| Terr |
Reduction
of crop contamination by resuspension within the
30-km zone of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (2003) |
| Terr |
A comparison of 90Sr and 137Cs uptake in plants
via three pathways at two Chernobyl-contaminated
sites (2002) |
| Terr |
A
comparison of 90Sr and 137Cs uptake in plants
via three pathways at two Chernobyl-contaminated
sites (2002) |
| Terr |
Uptake
of natural and anthropogenic actinides in vegetable
crops grown on a contaminated lake bed (1999). |
| Terr |
Operationally-defined
availability from sequential extractions compared
to plant uptake of 137Cs and 90Sr (1998). |
| Terr |
Foliar
absorption of resuspended 137Cs relative to other
pathways of plant contamination (1996). |
| Terr |
Mobility
of radionuclides in undisturbed and cultivated
soils in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia six years
after the Chernobyl fallout (1996). |
| Terr |
Transfer of radionuclides through the terrestrial
environment to agricultural products, including
the evaluation of agro-chemical practices (1996) |
| Terr |
Soil
contamination of plant surfaces from grazing and
rainfall interactions (1995). |
| Terr |
A comparison of techniques used to estimate the
amount of resuspended soil on plant surfaces (1995). |
| Terr |
Terr
Contaminated soil on Chernobyl vegetation (1993).
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| Terr |
Contamination of plants by resuspension: a review,
with critique of measurement methods (1992). |
| Terr |
A review of the mass loading approach to estimate
resuspension onto plant surfaces (1990). |
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