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AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AND WILDLIFE SAMPLING

Another potential pathway for contaminants to reach humans is through the food chain. The ESER Program samples multiple agricultural products and game animals from around the INEEL and Southeast Idaho. Specifically, milk, wheat, potatoes, garden lettuce, sheep, big game, waterfowl, and marmots are sampled. Milk is sampled throughout the year. Sheep are sampled during the second quarter. Lettuce and wheat are sampled during the third quarter, while potatoes and waterfowl are collected during the fourth quarter. See Table A-1, Appendix A, for more details on agricultural product and wildlife sampling. This section discusses results from milk, potatoes, large game, and waterfowl sampled during the fourth quarter of 2003. A summary of approximate minimum detectable concentrations (MDCs) for radiological analyses is provided in Appendix B. There no regulatory standards for radionuclide concentrations in agricultural products and wildlife tissues.

MILK SAMPLING

POTATOES

Eleven potato samples were collected from area growers and from out-of-state locations. All samples were analyzed for gamma emitting radionuclides and ⁹⁰Sr. No ¹³⁷Cs was measured in any sample. Strontium-90 was detected in four of the samples above their respective 3s values. The maximum concentration of ⁹⁰Sr was from Howe at 4040 ± 960 pCi/kg (dry) (approximately 150 ± 36 Bq/kg [dry]). This value is consistent with historic concentrations.

Data for ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr in all potato samples taken during the fourth quarter are listed in Table C-10 (Appendix C).

LARGE GAME ANIMAL SAMPLING

Nine game animals, six mule deer, two pronghorn, and an elk, were sampled during the fourth quarter of 2003. All were killed as a result of vehicular collision. Samples of thyroid, liver, and muscle tissue were collected when possible. Cesium-137 and ¹³¹I data for big game samples are listed in Appendix C, Table C 11. Each sample collected was analyzed for gamma-emitting radionuclides. Liver and muscle tissue of one pronghorn had detectable concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs. Iodine-131 was also detected in the liver of this animal.

WATERFOWL

Eleven waterfowl were collected during 2003: three each from the control location of Mud Lake and Argonne National Laboratory-West (ANL-W) sewage treatment lagoon, and five from the Test Reactor Area (TRA) sewage treatment lagoon. All were analyzed for gamma emitting radionuclides with a subset analyzed for ⁹⁰Sr, ²³⁸Pu, ^239/240Pu, and ²⁴¹Am. Concentrations of radionuclides measured in edible tissues are shown in Table 4 (below).

Five waterfowl had measurable levels of at least one radionuclide in edible tissue. Of the radionuclides measured at each location, Mud Lake had two positive samples, and the TRA sewage lagoon had three. Cerium-141 (¹⁴¹Ce) was detected at concentrations greater than the 3s value in the muscle tissue of one of the waterfowl from TRA. ⁹⁰Sr was detected at concentrations greater than the 3s value in the muscle tissue of four of the waterfowl sampled. No other radionuclides were measured above the 3s concentration in any edible tissue.

Duck hunting is not allowed on the INEEL, but a maximum potential exposure scenario to humans would be someone collecting a contaminated duck and immediately consuming all muscle, liver, heart, and gizzard tissue (average 225 g). The maximum potential dose from eating 225 g (8 oz) of meat from the most contaminated ducks collected in 2003 was estimated to be 0.002 mrem (0.2 mSv). This dose is orders of magnitude lower than last years estimated dose of 0.89 mrem. This is attributed primarily to the fact that waterfowl from the TRA Warm Waste Pond, containing low levels of radionuclides, were not taken in 2003. This dose is far less than 363 mrem we receive each year from ambient sources and the 100 mrem per year DOE regulatory dose limit. Results for all duck samples are listed in Table C-12 of Appendix C.

Table 4. Measured radionuclides in edible tissues of waterfowl.

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