title: A study on the levels of radioactivity in fish samples from the experimental lakes area in Ontario, Canada.
abstract: To better understand background radiation levels in country foods, a total of 125 fish samples were collected from three lakes (Lake 226, Lake 302 and Lake 305) in the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) in Ontario of Canada during the summer of 2014. Concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides ((226)Ra, (210)Pb and (210)Po) as well as anthropogenic radionuclides ((134)Cs and (137)Cs) were measured. This study confirmed that (210)Po is the dominant contributor to radiation doses resulting from fish consumption. While concentrations of (210)Pb and (226)Ra were below conventional detection limits, (210)Po was measured in almost all fish samples collected from the ELA. The average concentration was about 1.5 Bq/kg fresh weight (fw). None of the fish samples analysed in this study contained any detectable levels of (134)Cs. An average (137)Cs level of 6.1 Bq/kg fw was observed in freshwater fishes harvested in the ELA, almost twice that of samples measured in the National Capital Region of Canada in 2014 and more than 20 times higher than the levels observed in marine fish harvested from the Canadian west coast in 2013 and 2014. However, it is important to note that the concentrations of (137)Cs in fish samples from these inland lakes are considered very low from a radiological protection perspective. The resulting radiation dose for people from fish consumption would be a very small fraction of the annual dose from exposure to natural background radiation in Canada. The results indicate that fishes from inland lakes do not pose a radiological health concern.
authors.affiliation: Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, 775 Brookfield Road, Ottawa, Canada. Electronic address: jing.chen@hc-sc.gc.ca.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: International Institute for Sustainable Development, Experimental Lakes Area, 111 Lombard Avenue, Suite 325, Winnipeg, Canada; Department of Biology, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Rennie
authors.affiliation: Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, 775 Brookfield Road, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Baki
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sadi
authors.affiliation: Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, 775 Brookfield Road, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Weihua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Environmental Compliance and Laboratory Services Division, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, 280 Slater Street, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Nadereh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: St-Amant
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001417:Background Radiation; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D003531:Cypriniformes / Q000378:metabolism; D017859:Esocidae / Q000378:metabolism; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism*; D005507:Food Contamination, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D006207:Half-Life; D060106:Lakes / Q000032:analysis*; D009864:Ontario; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D012487:Salmonidae / Q000378:metabolism; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive
keywords: Freshwater fish; Natural radionuclides; Radioactive caesium