Fission Product-Soil Organic Matter Complexes: I. Strontium-90 (Yttrium-90) in Water Extracts and HCl Hydrolysates of Soil 1

Brookston silty clay loam was incubated with 40 µc. Sr⁹⁰(Y⁹⁰) for 60 days and extracted with hot water or hydrolyzed with 6N HCl. The supernatant liquid was centrifuged, concentrated, and subjected to electrodialysis, dialysis, gel filtration, and paper electrophoresis. Some Sr⁹⁰(Y⁹⁰) and organic matter migrated to the anode compartment during electrodialysis suggesting the presence of low molecular weight, negatively charged Sr⁹⁰(Y⁹⁰)—organic matter complexes. Dialysis did not remove all of the Sr⁹⁰(Y⁹⁰) from the extracts. Gel filtration separated the extracts into several organic matter containing components and showed that Sr⁹⁰(Y⁹⁰) was complexed or held on exchange sites by high molecular weight polymers. Presence of radioactivity in the components was correlated with the presence of polyuronides. Phenols, α-amino acids and α-keto acids were separated from the 6N HCl hydrolysate by paper electrophoresis but no clear correlation between these components and radioactivity on the paper strips was obtained.