Strontium-90 in food and bone from fallout

Journal Article ·

OSTI ID:6082912

Klusek, C S

The long-term, continuing study of fallout /sup 80/Sr in humans and the environment has provided basic information that is required to assess human exposure from /sup 80/Sr from nuclear tests. The current stratospheric inventory of /sup 80/Sr is very low and the rate of new input into the environment is exceeded by the rate of decay. However, because of its long physical and biological half-life, /sup 90/Sr continues to be one of the most persistent artificial radionuclides that reaches humans through ingestion. Quarterly sampling of 19 representative food items in New York and San Francisco since 1954 provides a record of the changes that occur in the relative contributions of /sup 80/Sr by the various food categories, as well as the changes in the total /sup 80/Sr intake to the diet in these typical Northern Hemisphere regions. The current intake of 0.18 Bq/d in New York has declined from maximum levels of 1.1 Bq/d in 1963 to 1964. The /sup 80/Sr content of San Francisco diets has been consistently lower than the New York level. The retention of dietary intake has been studied through the analysis of bone samples from long-term residents of the same cities. The measured concentration of /sup 90/Sr in adult bones in the USA is now 50% less than the peak concentrations of 85 Bq/kg Ca seen in 1965.

• Research Organization: Dept. of Energy, New York, NY
• OSTI ID: 6082912
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

510300* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
560161 -- Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology-- Man
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BODY
CALIFORNIA
CONTAMINATION
DIET
DOSES
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EXPLOSIONS
FALLOUT
FEDERAL REGION II
FEDERAL REGION IX
FOOD
HUMAN POPULATIONS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
MONITORING
NEW YORK
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
NUCLEI
ORGANS
POPULATIONS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE KINETICS
RETENTION
SAMPLING
SKELETON
STRONTIUM 90
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
USA
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES