Assessment of health risks from fallout radiocesium in a hunting and food-gathering society.
Hunting and food-gathering societies are particularly vulnerable to the effects of fallout, since these people are often at the head of natural food chains which can bioaccumulate toxic substances. This paper describes a study on the effects of fallout radiocesium in caribou consumers of northern Canada. Portable whole body counting equipment was transported into five Arctic communities in 1989-90 and used to measure radiocesium body burdens in over 1100 people. The results were compared with a similar survey carried out in 1967-68. The mean body burden for adults in each community had decreased by a factor of 20 to 30 since the earlier survey. It was possible to derive an effective half time of about 4.5 years for the decrease of Cs-137 body burdens in the Arctic. The mean lifetime dose from the ingestion of radiocesium since 1967 amounted to not more than 12 mSv, with possibly an equal contribution from the period before 1967. The current radiation doses are much less than natural background and it is possible to reassure northern residents that caribou meat remains a safe and nutritious food source.
Tracy
B L
BL
Bureau of Radiation and Medical Devices, Department of National Health and Welfare, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Kramer
G H
GH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001822:Body Burden; D002170:Canada; D002586:Cesium; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat; D008875:Middle Aged; D011847:Radioactive Fallout; D012737:Sex Factors
D011847:Radioactive Fallout; D002586:Cesium