Second Quarter 2007
INL Quarterly Site Environmental Report
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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 Site and Southeast Idaho. Specifically, milk, wheat, potatoes, garden lettuce, big game, and waterfowl are sampled. Milk is sampled throughout the year and large game animals are sampled whenever large game are killed onsite from vehicle collisions. Lettuce and wheat are sampled during the third quarter, while potatoes are collected during the fourth quarter. Waterfowl are collected in either the third or 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 second quarter of 2007.
Milk samples were collected weekly in Ucon and monthly at eight other locations around the INL Site (Figure 11) during the second quarter of 2007. All samples were analyzed for gamma emitting radionuclides. During the second quarter, samples from half of the locations are analyzed for 90Sr and half are analyzed for tritium. In the fourth quarter the analyses are reversed, so that each location receives one analysis for 90Sr and tritium each year.
No Iodine-131 or other manmade gamma-emitting radionuclides were detected in any sample. Data for 131I and 137Cs in milk samples are listed in Appendix C, Table C-6.
Strontium-90 was detected in all four samples analyzed at levels within
historical measurements, ranging from 0.30 to 0.35 pCi/L (Table C-7 in
Appendix C.) Tritium was not
detected in any of five samples analyzed (Table C-7,
Appendix C).
Muscle and thyroid tissues were collected from one large game animal sampled during the second quarter of 2007. No manmade gamma-emitting radionuclides were detected. The data for 137Cs and 131I are listed in Appendix C, Table C-8.
Second Quarter 2007
INL Quarterly Site Environmental Report
Return to Index