Deposition of Fallout Cesium 137 on Forage and Transfer to Milk

Abstract

is one of the most important contaminants from fallout nuclear debris because of its long physical half-life and affinity for biological systems. Body burdens of this radionuclide in man result principally from the food-chain sequence: air and precipitation to plants, plants to milk and meat, with dairy and beef cattle as the principal vectors between plants and man's diet. This apparently simple

The transfer of radiocaesium to ewes through a breeding cycle – an illustration of the pitfalls of the transfer coefficient

“…The same workers also defined the meat transfer coefficient as the ratio of the 137 Cs activity concentration in boneless meat to the dietary daily 137 Cs intake . Other early papers by the same group define transfer coefficient as a percentage and not a fraction Ward et al, 1966).…”

The use of dietary calcium intake of dairy ruminants to predict the transfer coefficient of radiostrontium to milk

“…The transfer coefficient, devised by Ward et al [1] and further discussed by Ward and Johnson [2], is defined as the equilibrium ratio between the activity concentration in the animal product and the daily intake of a particular radionuclide. Transfer coefficients for milk and meat are termed F m and F f , respectively.…”

INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE CYCLING AND RECYCLING OF CERTAIN RADIONUCLIDES THROUGH THE MILK FOOD CHAIN. Final Report, December 15, 1963--December 14, 1966.

“…Of particular note is the work of Comar (39), Wasserman and Lengemann on the transfer of iodine-131 (40,41) and, strontium-9 0 (42,43,44) to milk, the work at the National Reactor Testing Station on iodine-131 (22,45), Garner's work (46,50) and the work of others (47) to milk (48,49,51) . All of these studies have let to empirical relations between the intake and output of radionucl ides in milk.…”

“…Expected content in Sedish milk of originati ng from 1 Ci Cs-137 per km2 deposited either in the plow-laye r or in the root mat horizon and in the surface 2 cm of the grassland soil 48 …”