Monitoring 90Sr contamination in terms of 131I contamination in imported food.
This paper describes a method for monitoring 90Sr contamination in terms of 131I contamination in food imported from a country with a recent nuclear power plant accident. For imported food, the guideline levels set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission will be applied, which requires that the contamination in food by beta emitters (typically strontium) be monitored. However, the measurement of strontium contamination cannot be made within a reasonably short time as it requires rather time-consuming chemical extraction and sample preparation procedures in advance. We propose here to use the contamination level of 131I in these foodstuffs as indicators of 90Sr contamination levels. Possible accident scenarios are employed to estimate the abundance ratio of 131I and 90Sr deposited on soil and intercepted by plants. Using a dynamic food chain model, we can calculate their relative activities in the food products which, when combined with the 131I levels present, give the theoretical 90Sr levels present.
Yu
K N
KN
Department of Applied Science, City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon.
D000059:Accidents; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005507:Food Contamination, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D009688:Nuclear Reactors; D013326:Strontium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*
D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D013326:Strontium Radioisotopes