Long-term decline of 137Cs concentration in honey in the second decade after the Chernobyl accident.

In the years 2001-2004 the (137)Cs activity was investigated in a total of 336 samples of different varieties of honey harvested in the Liguria Region of Northern Italy. Our purpose was to define (a) residual radioactive contamination following the Chernobyl accident and (137)Cs long-term decline, (b) correlation between (137)Cs activity and different honey varieties, and (c) correlation between (137)Cs activity and the prevailing geomorphological configuration in the collection areas. The mean (137)Cs specific activity was 4.