Estimation of Annual Ingestion of Sr-90 from Whole Milk in Selected Segments of the U.S. Population

摘要

The various environmental radiation surveillance and assessment programs in the U.S. can be significantly enhanced through the development of methods for estimating the distribution of cumulative ingestion of a radionuclide in selected segments of the population. Knowledge of these distributions would permit estimates of the proportion, and hence number, of persons in these population segments who are ingesting more than a given dose, thus providing the basis for a more meaningful assessment of the level of risk. Strontium-90 was selected as the nuclide to be studied initially in this project because of the relatively large deposits in the environment as a result of nuclear weapons testing and because of the uptake and retention pattern of this nuclide when ingested. The lengthy half-life of Sr-90, together with its similarity to calcium in behavior are the critical factors.