Second Quarter 2010
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, large game animals, 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 a special waterfowl sample collected during the second quarter of 2010.
Milk samples were collected weekly in Idaho Falls. Monthly samples were collected at six other locations around the INL Site (Figure 11) during the second quarter of 2010. In addition, commercially-available organic milk was purchased as a control sample. All samples were analyzed for gamma emitting radionuclides. 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-7.
Strontium-90 was detected in all eight samples analyzed (including the
control sample) at levels within historical measurements, ranging from 0.36 pCi/L
(Dietrich) to 1.84 pCi/L (Rupert). Tritium was not detected in any of the
samples analyzed (see Table C-8 in
Appendix C,).
Five large game animals (three pronghorn and two mule deer) were available for sampling during the second quarter. Man-made radionuclides were not detected in any of the tissue samples collected. Results are presented in Appendix C,, Table C-9.
Second Quarter 2010
INL Quarterly Site Environmental Report
Return to Index