Uptake of 137Cs by fresh water fish.

The uptake and discharge rates of 137Cs by fresh water fish at different radionuclide concentrations have been studied. A dual compartment model was used to fit the experimental data. The discharge rates have been found to be negligible for the duration of the experiment of 10 d. The uptake rates were independent of radionuclide concentrations for a particular type of fresh water fish and were different for different types of fish. The uptake rates of carp, tilapia and snakehead were 1.58, 1.66 and 2.23, in unit of 10(-6) h-1, respectively. It was also estimated that the consumption of fresh water fish, even if the water were contaminated as much as that in the Chernobyl accident, leads to negligible latent cancer fatality to the Hong Kong population.