First Quarter 2006
INL Quarterly Site Environmental Report
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AGRICULTURAL SAMPLING

Another potential pathway for contaminants to reach humans is through the food chain. The ESER Program samples multiple agricultural products and game animals from around the INL Site and Southeast Idaho. Specifically, milk, wheat, potatoes, garden lettuce, sheep, big game, doves and waterfowl are sampled. Milk is sampled throughout the year and large game animals are sampled whenever available. Sheep are sampled during the second quarter. Lettuce, wheat and waterfowl are sampled during the third quarter, while potatoes are collected during the fourth quarter. See Table A-1, Appendix A, for more details on agricultural product and wildlife sampling. This section discusses results from milk and large game animals sampled during the first quarter of 2006.

MILK SAMPLING

Milk samples were collected weekly in Ucon and monthly at nine other locations around the INL Site (Figure 11) during the first quarter of 2006. All samples were analyzed for gamma emitting radionuclides. Samples are analyzed for 90Sr and tritium during the second and fourth quarters.

No manmade gamma-emitting radionuclides were detected in any of the samples for the first quarter. Data for 131I and 137Cs in milk samples are listed in Appendix C, Table C-7.
 


Figure 11. ESER Program milk sampling locations.

 

LARGE GAME ANIMAL SAMPLING

Four large game animals (three mule deer and one pronghorn) were sampled during the first quarter of 2006. Cesium-137 was detected in the muscle tissue of the pronghorn at a concentration similar to those found in both onsite and offsite game and sheep samples in recent years. Data for 137Cs and 131I in first quarter large game samples are listed in Appendix C, Table C-8.

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