The effectiveness of alginates to reduce the transfer of radiostrontium tothe milk of dairy goats

In the event of a nuclear accident the radiation dose to human populations arising from radiostrontium ingested as contaminated milk is a major cause of concern. We report a study to determine if calcium alginate incorporated into the diet can be used as an effective countermeasure to reduce radiost rontium transfer to the milk of dairy goats. When Ca-alginate was included into a pelleted ration at 5% dry weight the transfer of radiostrontium to t he milk of the goats was reduced by approximately 50%. No effects on diet p alatability or the absorption of iron or calcium were observed. Ca-alginate was readily fermentable and hence its potential binding capacity is likely to be reduced in ruminants compared to monogastrics. The Ca-alginate also supplied additional calcium to the diet in an amount which may explain the observed reduction in radiostrontium transfer to milk. Therefore, currently , we cannot be certain if the effect we observed was due to alginate or cal cium. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.