First Quarter 2011
INL Quarterly Site Environmental Report
Return to Index
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, grain, potatoes, 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 grain 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, grain, soil, and large game animal samples collected during the first quarter of 2011..
Milk samples were collected weekly in Idaho Falls. Monthly samples were collected at six other locations around the INL Site (Figure 5) during the first quarter of 2011. In addition, commercially-available organic milk was purchased as a control sample. All samples were analyzed for gamma emitting radionuclides.
Iodine-131 was detected in one weekly sample collected on March 22 during the period when eastern Idaho received fallout from the Fukushima nuclear accident. The measured concentration of 5.1 pCi/L was just above the detection level but a recount of the sample and analysis of a split sample confirmed the presence of iodine-131. DOE does not have a derived concentration guide for milk but for comparison the Food and Drug Administration’s Limit for Public Health is 3,700 pCi/L.
Data for 131I and 137Cs in milk samples are listed in Appendix C, Table C-7.
One elk was sampled during the first quarter. Cesium-137 was detected in the muscle sample at a level just above the detection limit. The reported value of 4.17 pCi/kg is at the low end of the background range of concentrations (4 to 12 pCi/kg allowing for decay of 137Cs) found in a 1999 study on tissue samples from game animals across the western United States. No manmade radionuclides were detected in the thyroid. Results are presented in Appendix C, Table C-8.
First Quarter 2011
INL Quarterly Site Environmental Report
Return to Index