First Quarter
2009
INL Quarterly Site Environmental Report
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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, big game, and waterfowl are sampled. Milk is sampled throughout the year and large game animals are sampled whenever large game animals are killed onsite from vehicle collisions. Lettuce and wheat are sampled during the third quarter, while potatoes are collected during the fourth quarter. Waterfowl are collected in either the third or 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 2009.
Milk samples were collected weekly in Idaho Falls. Monthly samples were collected at seven other locations around the INL Site (Figure 11) during the first quarter of 2009. During the quarter, the dairy at Fort Hall ceased operations. The goat dairy in Blackfoot does not collect milk from November to February so only a March sample was collected. All samples were analyzed for gamma emitting radionuclides. During the second quarter, samples from half of the locations are analyzed for 90Sr and half are analyzed for tritium. In the fourth quarter the analyses are reversed, so that each location receives one analysis for 90Sr and tritium each year.
No Iodine-131 or other gamma-emitting radionuclides were detected in any
sample. Data for 131I and 137Cs in milk samples are listed
in Appendix C, Table C-6.
One large game animal (a mule deer) was sampled on the INL Site during the first quarter of 2009. No manmade radionuclides were found in the muscle, thyroid and liver samples. The data for 137Cs and 131I are listed in Appendix C, Table C-7.
First Quarter
2009
INL Quarterly Site Environmental Report
Return to Index