ABSTRACT
Contamination of soils, plants, and water bodies with radionuclides is a major threat to human health. Contaminations with radioactive strontium are particularly dangerous because of its similarity with calcium. Experiments on the behavior of radioactive strontium in the soil, its transfer in the food chain, and its interactions with calcium are limited. A solution to this problem is the analysis of stable strontium, which behaves identically as radioactive strontium. This contribution summarizes data on chemical speciation and spatial variability of strontium in soils, its relationship with relevant soil parameters, and factors influencing strontium uptake by plants. Special attention was paid to calcium, as it has to be put on par with strontium.
