Soil dust and bioaerosols as potential sources for resuspended Cs occurring near the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

One of the current pathways to radiation exposure, caused by the radionuclides discharged during the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident, is the inhalation of resuspended Cs present in the air. Although wind-induced soil particle resuspension is recognized as a primary resuspension mechanism, studies regarding the aftermath of the FDNPP accident have suggested that bioaerosols can also be a potential source of atmospheric Cs in rural areas, although the quantitative impact on the atmospheric Cs concentration is still largely unknown. We propose a model for simulating the Cs resuspension as soil particles and bioaerosols in the form of fungal spores, which are regarded as a potential candidate for the source of Cs-bearing bioaerosol emission into the air.