Tritium concentrations in bees and honey at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Description/Abstract
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has maintained a network of honey bee colonies at LANL, perimeter (Los Alamos townsite and White Rock/Pajarito Acres) and regional (background) areas for over 15 years; the main objective of this honey bee network was to help determine the bioavailability of certain radionuclides in the environment. Of all the radionuclides studied ({sup 3}H, {sup 57}Co, {sup 7}Be, {sup 22}Na, {sup 54}Mn, {sup 83}Rb, {sup 137}Cs, {sup 238}Pu, {sup 239}Pu, {sup 90}Sr and total U), tritium was consistently detected in bees and was most readily transferred to the honey. In fact, honey collected from hives located at TA-21, TA-33, TA-50, TA-53, and TA-54 and from White Rock/Pajarito Acres contained significantly higher concentrations of {sup 3}H than regional background hives. Based on the average concentration of all radionuclides measured over the years, the effective dose equivalent (EDE) from consuming 5 kg (11 lb) of honey collected from Los Alamos (townsite) and White Rock/Pajarito Acres, after regional background has been subtracted, was 0.0186 ({+-}0.0507) and 0.0016 ({+-}0.0010) mrem/yr, respectively. The highest EDE, based on the mean + 2SD (95% confidence level), was 0.1200 mrem/y; this was <0.2% of the International Commission on Radiological Protection permissible dose limit of 100 mrem/yr from all pathways.
| DOI | 10.2172/10106137 |
|---|---|
| Creator/Author: | Fresquez, P.R. ; Armstrong, D.R. ; Salazar, J.G. |
| Publication Date: | 1994 Dec 01 |
| OSTI Identifier: | OSTI ID: 10106137; Legacy ID: DE95004388 |
| Report Number(s): | LA--12872-MS |
| DOE Contract Number: | W-7405-ENG-36 |
| DOI: | 10.2172/10106137 |
| Other Number(s): | Other: ON: DE95004388;; TRN: TRN: AHC29503%%78 |
| Resource Type: | Technical Report |
| Specific Type: | Numerical Data |
| Resource Relation: | Other Information: PBD: Dec 1994 |
| Coverage: | Topical |
| Research Org: | Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States) |
| Sponsoring Org: | USDOE, Washington, DC (United States) |
| Subject: | 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; 63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.; LANL; CONTAMINATION; TRITIUM; BIOLOGICAL AVAILABILITY; UPTAKE; BEES; HONEY; COMPILED DATA; BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS |
| Country of Publication: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Format: | Size: 11 p. |
| Availability: | OSTI; NTIS; INIS; GPO Dep. To purchase this media from NTIS, click here |
| Update Date: | 2009 Dec 11 |
Full Text
3 Mb
View Full Text
or Access Individual Pages
search, view and/or download individual pages
Cite
Select a citation type to copy/paste or download the reference.
