Third 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 third quarter of 2007.
Milk samples were collected weekly in Ucon and monthly at eight other locations around the INL Site (Figure 11) during the third quarter of 2007. The dairy at Roberts is no longer in operation. 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.
In 2004 the ESER Program tested two prototype self-contained lettuce planters at the sampling locations in Atomic City and at the EFS on the INL. These locations were relatively remote and had no access to water, requiring that a self-watering system be developed. This prototype method allows for the placement and collection of lettuce at areas previously unavailable to the public (i.e., on the INL). The planters are set out in the spring with the lettuce grown from seed. This new method also allows for the accumulation of deposited radionuclides on the plant surface throughout the growth cycle.
Six lettuce samples were collected from prototype planters. Each sample was analyzed for gamma-emitting radionuclides and 90Sr. No gamma results were measured above the 3s uncertainty value. Strontium-90 was reported in all samples except at EFS and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Tower. The quantities detected are consistent with those found in previous years, which are attributed to uptake of soil with residual 137Cs and 90Sr from nuclear weapons testing that took place between 1945 and 1980.
Data for 137Cs and 90Sr in all lettuce samples taken during the third quarter are listed in Table C-7 (Appendix C).
A total of 11 wheat samples (including one duplicate) were collected from local grain growers. All samples were analyzed for gamma-emitting radionuclides and 90Sr. Strontium-90 was not positively detected in any wheat sample. Data for 137Cs and 90Sr in all wheat samples taken during the third quarter are listed in Appendix C, Table C-8.
Muscle tissue was collected from one large game animal sampled during the third quarter of 2007. Cesium-137 was detected at a level within historical measurements. Strontium-90 was detected in any sample. The data for 137Cs and 131I are listed in Appendix C, Table C-9.
Third Quarter 2007
INL Quarterly Site Environmental Report
Return to Index