Fallout Radiation Effects on Livestock (Part A) and Food Crops (Part B)

摘要

Sheep fed 90Y-labeled fallout simulant at the rate of 2.5 mCi/kg to simulate 7% forage retention developed anorexia, diarrhea, and weight loss. Beta irradiation of 57,000 rads to the dorsum of sheep, equivalent to 12% of the body surface, severely affected the skin and reduced body weight by 15% with no reduction in feed intake. Whole-body gamma irradiation of 240 R at 1 R/min affected only the platelets and white blood cells with no mortalities. These three types of irradiation given singly had little effects on mortality but when the three were combined, 4 of 8 sheep died within 60 days. Gamma ray sensitivity for major crops was as follows: winter barley = winter wheat > corn > soybean > rice. Seedlings of barley and wheat will tolerate 1 kR, corn 2kR, soybean 4 kR, and rice 25 kR. Maximum yield reduction occurred in corn irradiated from 14 to 48 DAE in winter barley from 175 to 200 DAE, and in winter wheat from 150 to 200 DAE. Yield reduction in soybean was maximal at early seedling stages and during early bloom. In the monocotyledonous plants sensitivity to gamma rays is greatest during the period of apical tansition and extends through the period of reproductive primoridal development. (Author)