137Cs levels in deer following the Three Mile Island accident.
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virgianus) tongues were assayed to assess whether or not significant widespread 137Cs contamination occurred in the vicinity of Three Mile Island Nuclear Station as a result of the 1979 accident. White-tailed deer tongues harvested from 10 Pennsylvania counties more than 88 km away from Three Mile Island had significantly higher 137Cs levels than deer tongues harvested from counties surrounding the nuclear plant. The mean deer tongue 137Cs levels found in Pennsylvania white-tailed deer were lower than 137Cs levels found in deer from other parts of the U.S. sampled shortly after culmination of major atmospheric nuclear testing. These findings support the conclusions of previous studies suggesting that only minimal quantities of 137Cs escaped from the damaged Three Mile Island plant after the accident.
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RW
Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242.
D000059:Accidents; D000818:Animals; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D003670:Deer; D008334:Mandible / Q000737:chemistry*; D009688:Nuclear Reactors; D010414:Pennsylvania; D011847:Radioactive Fallout; D014059:Tongue / Q000737:chemistry*
D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D011847:Radioactive Fallout