Summary report of the grazing studies conducted on a plutonium-contaminated range in Area 13 of the Nevada Test Site

Technical Report · Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1979

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6190872· OSTI ID:6190872

Smith, D. D.

Actinide concentrations in the tissues of beef animals periodically sacrificed and sampled during a 3-year grazing study on a plutonium-contaminated range of the Nevada Test Site are tabulated and discussed. The primary objective of this study was to determine the uptake and tissue distribution of the plutonium by ruminants. Food habit analyses of ingesta from rumen-fistulated steers and sacrificed cattle revealed that shrub species made up the major portion of their diet during most seasons of the year. Grasses were preferred during the spring months. Using activity levels found in the rumen contents, it was estimated that a study cow ingested 100 microcuries of plutonium-239 prior to sacrifice. Of this, 16.4 microcuries was in rumen fluids from which a combined retention factor of 0.0034% was calculated for the bone, muscle, and liver. Comparisons of plutonium-239/plutonium-238 ratios in ingesta and tissues indicate that the plutonium-238 is more readily absorbed and retained. No radiologically significant lesions were found. The gonadal concentrations of the actinides were significantly higher than those of blood and muscle and approached those of bone. These data indicate that consideration should be given to the plutonium-239 dose to gonads as well as that to bone, liver, and lungs of man. Actinide concentrations of animals born in the study areas showed an increasing trend with time. Concentrations of plutonium-239 in the lung, liver, muscle, and femur tissues of the Area 13 cattle were significantly higher than in tissues collected from grazing cattle from other sites. The plutonium-239 concentrations in bones, lungs, and livers collected from wildlife with free access to and from the contaminated zones reflect the dilution resulting from these animals ranging into the less contaminated areas around the study sites.

• Research Organization: Environmental Protection Agency, Las Vegas, NV (USA). Environmental Monitoring and Support Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-A-08-0539
• OSTI ID: 6190872
• Report Number(s): EMSL-LV-0539-24; TRN: 79-016042
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AMERICIUM 241
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
FOLIAR UPTAKE
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ROOT ABSORPTION
TISSUE DISTRIBUTION
CATTLE
CONTAMINATION
FOOD CHAINS
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
GONADS
RADIONUCLIDE KINETICS
GRASS
RADIOACTIVITY
LIVER
LUNGS
MAN
RADIATION DOSES
MUSCLES
PASTURES
PLUTONIUM 238
PLUTONIUM 239
SHRUBS
SKELETON
STOMACH
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DIET
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GRAPHS
INGESTION
NEVADA TEST SITE
TABLES
WILD ANIMALS
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
AMERICIUM ISOTOPES
ANIMALS
BODY
DATA
DATA FORMS
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
DISTRIBUTION
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
DOSES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT
GLANDS
HEAVY NUCLEI
INFORMATION
INTAKE
ISOTOPES
MAMMALS
MASS TRANSFER
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ORGANS
PLANTS
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
PRIMATES
RADIOISOTOPES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
RUMINANTS
UPTAKE
VERTEBRATES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
510302* - Environment
Terrestrial- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- Terrestrial Ecosystems & Food Chains- (-1987)
560172 - Radiation Effects- Nuclide Kinetics & Toxicology- Animals- (-1987)
560171 - Radiation Effects- Nuclide Kinetics & Toxicology- Man- (-1987)