5.2  Large Game Animal Sampling

Five mule deer, one elk, and one pronghorn killed by vehicle collisions on the INEEL were sampled during the third quarter, 2001.  Thyroid, muscle, and liver tissue were collected from each and analyzed for gamma emitting radionuclides.

Cesium-137 was detected in the muscle of two mule deer (collected on 7/9/01 and 8/7/01) and the liver of two other mule deer (collected on 8/7/01 and 8/30/01). 

Cesium-137 is an analog of potassium and is readily incorporated in muscle and organ tissues.  The level of ¹³⁷Cs detected in big game on the INEEL during the third quarter was very low and indistinguishable from that available from fallout from nuclear weapons tests or Chernobyl.  Big game animals sampled in Colorado, Idaho (distant the INEEL), Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming, 1998 – 1999, had average ¹³⁷Cs concentrations in muscle tissue of 20 pCi/kg (0.74 Bq/kg) wet weight [range: -10 to 152 pCi/kg (-0.37 to 5.6 Bq/kg) wet weight]. 

Data for all big game sampled during the third quarter are listed in Table C-8 (Appendix C).