CONTAMINATION OF FOODSTUFFS BY ATOMIC WEAPON TESTS AND ITS BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE (in German)
As a result of more than 200 atomic explosions over the period)945-80 ground concentrations of Sr/sup 90/ have risen as high as 14 mC/km/sup 2/ and Cs/ sup 137/ concentrations to almost 150 mC/km/sup 2/. Values of Sr/sup 90/ observed in some milk samples exceed 40 mu mu C Sr/sup 90//l, but this varies with the season. In Germany the average atmospheric specific activity of mixed fission products and Sr/sup 90/ in air varies closely with the frequency of weapons tests, but the soil concentration of Sr/sup 90/ is progressively cumulative and reached a value of over 20 mC/km/sup 2/ in 1960. Because these radionuclides concentrate within the soil surface layers, they are readily incorporated into food crops. In Germany for the period 1958-9 the average daily individual intake of Sr/sup 90/ from milk, grains, vegetables, and fruit was 3.2, 1.7, 1.1, and 1.0 mu mu C. It is estimated that in Germany in 1960 the maximum Sr/sup 90/Ca ratios in bone of age groups 0--5, 5-20, and 20+ yr were 3.2, 2.0, and 0.6 (as 10/sup -6/ mu C/g Ca) and amount to 1: 35, 1: 70, and 1: 200 of the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) established by the International Committee on Radiation Protection (ICRP). The results of surveys of soil contamination by radioactive isotopes and their incorporation into foodstuffs are discussed as the basis for evaluation of their possible hazard to man. (BBB)
- Research Organization:
- Technische Hochschule, Hanover
- NSA Number:
- NSA-18-003629
- OSTI ID:
- 4135129
- Journal Information:
- Zeitschrift fuer Ernaehrungswissenschaft (West Germany), Vol. Vol: 2; Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-64
- Country of Publication:
- Country unknown/Code not available
- Language:
- German
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