Food habits and radionuclide tissue concentrations of Nevada desert bighorn sheep, 1972--1973

Technical Report · Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1976

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7178973· OSTI ID:7178973

Brown, K. W.; Smith, D. D.; Bernhardt, D. E.; Giles, K. R.; Helvie, J. B.

The botanical composition of the diet and radionuclide content of selected tissues of desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) collected during the 1972 and 1973 hunting seasons were determined by analyzing rumen contents, and lung, liver, kidney, and bone tissues. Botanical examination of the rumen contents showed that grass exceeded 50 percent of the diet of 10 to 14 animals collected in 1972 and 12 of 18 animals collected in 1973. Desert needlegrass (Stipa speciosa), Indian rice grass (Oryzopsis hymenoides), and squirrel tail (Sitanion hystrix) were the major grasses utilized. The dominant shrub species consumed included the joint firs (Ephedra viridis) and (Ephedra nevadensis), Mohave yucca (Yucca schidigera), and cliff rose (Cowania mexicana). With the exception of potassium-40, gamma-emitting radionuclides were not detected in desert bighorn sheep tissue. The tritium levels reported were within environmental levels. Strontium-90 levels averaged 4.9 and 4.1 pCi/gram of bone ash for 1972 and 1973, respectively, continuing the downward trend observed in recent years. Uranium levels were similar to those reported from cattle grazing the same general geographic areas. The daily consumption for one year of 500 grams of liver containing the highest levels of plutonium and uranium would result in a dose to the human bone, the tissue expected to receive the highest dose, of approximately 1 mrem/year. This is less than 1% of the radiation protection guides for the general population.

• Research Organization: Environmental Protection Agency, Las Vegas, Nev. (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AT(26-1)-539
• OSTI ID: 7178973
• Report Number(s): EMSL-LV-539-6; TRN: 76-018861
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
BONE TISSUES
RADIATION MONITORING
FOOD
GRASS
KIDNEYS
LIVER
LUNGS
PLANTS
POTASSIUM 40
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
TISSUE DISTRIBUTION
RADIOISOTOPES
SHEEP
STOMACH
STRONTIUM 90
TISSUES
TRITIUM
URANIUM
CATTLE
CONTAMINATION
NEVADA
RADIATION DOSES
RUMINANTS
ACTINIDES
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ANIMALS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIOMASS
BODY
CONNECTIVE TISSUE
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
DISTRIBUTION
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
DOSES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT
GLANDS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MAMMALS
METALS
MONITORING
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
ORGANS
POTASSIUM ISOTOPES
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
USA
VERTEBRATES
WESTERN REGION
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
560172* - Radiation Effects- Nuclide Kinetics & Toxicology- Animals- (-1987)
510300 - Environment
Terrestrial- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)