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At least 487 records · Page 27Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Area and time distribution of external and internal doses from Chernobyl fallout: the lack of correlation in Norway.

Population doses from external radiation and internal food-based radioactivity were calculated each month for each municipality for 3 y immediately following the Chernobyl contamination in Norway. The main polluted regions are sparsely populated but comprise important food production areas. The external dose data base was calculated based on fallout deposition and measurements in dwellings, whereas the totally independent internal dose data base was calculated on a large number of food measurements and knowledge of both the food distribution system and the countermeasures taken. The internal dose in the densely populated municipalities was comparably higher than expected from local deposition, despite the fact that countermeasures had some effect. Thus, the correlation between internal and external dose for individual municipalities is rather weak. This study shows that a traditional deposition/transfer factor approach may be inappropriate if used in countries with large variation in population density and agricultural ecosystems and in combination with effective countermeasures.

Accidents↗
PubMed1995

Residual Chernobyl fallout and Sellafield pollutants found on the Isle of Man.

The Isle of Man is particularly vulnerable to radioactive pollution being located in the middle of the Irish Sea, only 55 km from the Sellafield nuclear site. Paradoxically, radioactive fallout from the accident at Chernobyl is the only significant radioactive pollution on the Island and requires legal restrictions on sheep farming. This paper gives an overview of the occurrence and magnitude of radioactive pollution on the Isle of Man, using results of live-monitoring of the Island's hill flocks since August 1987, and data selected from the results of laboratory analysis of more than 1000 samples of foodstuffs and environmental materials between 1990 and 1993. Radioactive contamination is of no significance in local agricultural produce, however, about one sixth of the Island's hill grazing land is still subject to controls. Sellafield pollutants are found only in samples from the marine environment.

Air Pollutants, Radioactive↗
PubMed1997

[Chernobyl and its consequences--some veterinary medical points of view].

Summing up some recent publications, the author provides a survey about what happened, today's situation in Germany, the relation between food contamination and exposure, recommended generic intervention levels for foodstuffs, and possibilities to reduce contamination in food. Some agricultural counter-measures in the management of a post-accidental situation are especially taken into consideration. It follows that the veterinarian plays an important role in reducing population exposure by radioactive fall out.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed1998

Environmental contamination and assessment of doses from radiation releases in the Southern Urals.

The Southern Urals in Russia was contaminated by radioactive discharges into the Techa River (1949-1956), the Kyshtym accident (1957), and the current releases and discharges from the Mayak Nuclear Materials Production Complex. In this paper, the consequences of radioactive contamination of the Ural region are analyzed. The current content of 90Sr in the components of food chains is as follows (Bq kg(-1) wet weight): potatoes, 0.2-6.7; grain, 0.5-12.6; milk, 0.2-6.3; beef, 0.2-1.7; lake water, 0.12-1.0; river water, 0.2-8.5; fish, 7-480; mushrooms, 400-1,100; and berries, 700-16,000. The content of 137Cs is as follows: potatoes, 0.5-3.8; grain, 0.3-2.9; milk, 0.2-4.5; beef, 0.3-2.6; lake and river water, 0.002-0.019; fish, 2-32; mushrooms, 110-1,600; and berries, 150. A major fraction of the dose to humans comes from the consumption of local food products, including natural ones, which have higher contamination levels than agricultural products. The average annual dose rates in contaminated areas are (0.5-4) x 10(-4) Sv y(-1), which is lower by a factor of 10(2)-10(4) than in the periods of "acute" exposure (1950-1951 and 1957-1958). Natural organisms received very high doses up to 200-800 Gy resulting from radioactive discharges into the Techa River and the radiation accident in 1957. In all cases, including the "acute" exposure followed by the chronic irradiation, the doses to biota were by a factor of 10-10(3) higher than those to humans.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Decontamination of radioactive milk--a review.

The Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in Russia in 1986 has further revealed the susceptibility of the environment to radioactive contamination. This can have serious implications for the safety of milk as well as other foods. Global fallout and other isotope releases can threaten to increase the radionuclide levels in milk alarmingly, and thus make it unfit for human consumption. Perception of such fears in the past resulted in considerable research efforts being directed towards radioactive decontamination of milk by different means. The holding of milk and milk products long enough to deactivate certain radioisotopes prior to consumption, conversion of milk into butter, and manufacturing cheese by using modified processes are some of the approaches in minimizing the radioactivity risk to consumers. Extensive studies carried out in the USA have shown that though somewhat expensive, ion-exchange treatment of milk in large-scale, automated plants can eliminate 90% or more of the radionuclides of concern, i.e. strontium-90, and iodine-131, and much of caesium-137. Various factors affecting the efficiency of the ion exchange process and properties of the treated milk are reviewed. Other processing techniques such as electrodialysis are also briefly discussed in relation to removal of radionuclides from milk.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Environmental behaviour of radionuclides deposited after the reactor accident of Chernobyl and related exposures.

Several radioecological experiences with isotopes of ruthenium, iodine, caesium and barium, obtained after the reactor accident of Chernobyl, are reported. It was found that for a wet deposition barium was the element with the highest retention on grass. The retention of caesium was lower by a factor of 1.6, retention of iodine by a factor of 2.4 and retention of ruthenium by a factor of 3.5. Former data on the caesium transport in cereals from leaves to grain were confirmed. Depending on the conditions the iodine transfer factor for milk varied between 0.002 and 0.007 d.kg-1. The caesium transfer factor for milk was (0.003 +/- 0.0006) d.kg-1 and was found to be relatively constant in the years 1986-1988. In 1991, the values were higher by a factor of 2-5. Radioecological model results of whole-body burdens in Southern Bavaria showed a reduction of the caesium ingestion doses due to countermeasures and spontaneous changes of consumption habits in the first 2 months by a factor of 5 and till the end of 1987 by a factor of 1.5. The model results agree well with the range of measured whole-body burdens. One month after the deposition, the external exposures in urban environments due to ruthenium, caesium and barium isotopes were found to be reduced by a factor of 2, compared with open lawns, in the case of iodine the reduction was even a factor of 2.5. External exposures of a population group from the Munich area were determined by thermoluminescence dosimetry. The results are in accordance with the spectral measurements of external dose rates in urban environments.

Accidents↗
PubMed1980

Radioiodine: biokinetics, mean dose and dose distribution.

For the radioiodine isotopes I-123, I-125, I-131, and I-132 the mean tissue dose and local dose distribution in the epithelial cells of a follicle have been calculated and compared to each other. Moreover, dose factors have been estimated for I-131 as a function of age considering age-dependent ingestion (milk consumption) and inhalation rates. Thereby, besides age-dependent biological half-times and thyroid masses, the thyroidal iodine uptake was assumed to be independent from age and taken to be about 1.7 the normal for an insufficient dietary iodine intake as in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Contribution of inhalation by food animals to man's ingestion dose.

Animals' inhalation (AI) pathway was evaluated for 57 radionuclides using infant dose predictions from the food-chain model LIMCAL. With ingestion transfer coefficients fMi to define transfer from the respiratory tract to milk, the AI pathway appeared to be insignificant compared to animals' plant ingestion, as implicitly assumed in most environmental assessment models for nuclear installations. Using ICRP Publication 30 respiratory clearance models for man to adjust ingestion transfer coefficients, animals' inhalation appeared to be important, particularly for some actinide radionuclides. The AI pathway also appeared to be significant relative to man's inhalation, especially for infants. The importance of the AI pathway varied greatly between radionuclides, and results strongly suggest that it cannot be ignored in environmental assessments. Until better data become available to implement this pathway fully, adjusted ingestion transfer coefficient values can be used for transfer from animals' respiratory tract to milk and other food products.

Air Pollutants, Radioactive↗