Publication Abstract

A comparison of doses from 137Cs and 210Po in marine food: a major international study

A comparison of doses from 137Cs and 210Po in marine food: a major international study

A.Aarkrog, M.Baxter, A.Bettencourt, R.Bojanowski, A.Bologa, S.Charmasson, I.Cunha, R.Delfanti, E.Duran, E.Holm, R.Jeffree, H.Livingston, H.Mahapanyawong, S.Nies, I.Osvath, L.Pingyu, P.Povinec, A.Sanchez, J.Smith, and D.Swift

Radioactivity levels of natural 210Po and anthropogenic 137Cs in sea water and biota (fish and steel ash) have been estimated for the FAO fishing areas on the basis of measurements carried out in recent years. Collective doses resulting front seafood consumption are calculated for each FA O area using radioactivity data for water and biota. Good agreement is observed between the results calculated by these two methods, with the exception of the doses from 210Po via shellfish consumption. The collective effective dose commitment from 137Cs in marine food in 1990 has been estimated at 160 man Sv with an uncertainty of 50%. The corresponding dose from 210Po is 30 000 man Sv with an estimated uncertainty of a factor of 5. The results confirm that the dominant contribution to doses derives from natural 210Po in fish and shellfish and that the contribution from anthropogenic 137Cs (mainly originating from nuclear weapons tests) is negligible.

Reference:

A.Aarkrog, M.Baxter, A.Bettencourt, R.Bojanowski, A.Bologa, S.Charmasson, I.Cunha, R.Delfanti, E.Duran, E.Holm, R.Jeffree, H.Livingston, H.Mahapanyawong, S.Nies, I.Osvath, L.Pingyu, P.Povinec, A.Sanchez, J.Smith, and D.Swift  (1996) A comparison of doses from 137Cs and 210Po in marine food: a major international study,Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 34: 69-90

A.Aarkrog, M.Baxter, A.Bettencourt, R.Bojanowski, A.Bologa, S.Charmasson, I.Cunha, R.Delfanti, E.Duran, E.Holm, R.Jeffree, H.Livingston, H.Mahapanyawong, S.Nies, I.Osvath, L.Pingyu, P.Povinec, A.Sanchez, J.Smith, and D.Swift*

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 34: 69-90