First Quarter 2005
INL Quarterly Site Environmental Report
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AGRICULTURAL 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 INL and Southeast Idaho. Specifically, milk, wheat, potatoes, garden lettuce, sheep, big game, waterfowl, doves, 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 and large game animals sampled during the first quarter of 2005. A summary of approximate minimum detectable concentrations (MDCs) for radiological analyses is provided in Appendix B. There are no regulatory standards for radionuclide concentrations in agricultural products or wildlife tissues.

MILK SAMPLING

Milk samples were collected weekly in Idaho Falls and monthly at nine other locations around the INL (Figure 11) during the first quarter of 2005. All samples were analyzed for gamma emitting radionuclides. Samples are analyzed for ⁹⁰Sr during the second and fourth quarters.

Data for weekly and monthly ¹³¹I and ¹³⁷Cs measurements in milk samples are listed in Table C-7. Neither ¹³¹I nor ¹³⁷Cs was detected (measured above the 3s value) in any milk sample during the first quarter.

LARGE GAME ANIMAL SAMPLING

One game animal (a pronghorn antelope) was sampled during the first quarter of 2005. It was killed as a result of vehicular collisions on an INL road. Efforts were made to collect samples of thyroid, liver, and muscle tissue from the animal, but due to its condition at the time of sampling, a liver sample was not collected. Cesium-137 and ¹³¹I data are listed in Appendix C, Table C 8. Cesium-137 and ¹³¹I were not detected in either of the tissue collected.

Figure 11. ESER Program milk sampling locations.

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