Radionuclides and trace elements in fish collected upstream and downstreamof Los Alamos National Laboratory and the doses to humans from the consumption of muscle and bone
Pr. Fresquez et al., Radionuclides and trace elements in fish collected upstream and downstreamof Los Alamos National Laboratory and the doses to humans from the consumption of muscle and bone, J ENVIR S B, 34(5), 1999, pp. 885-899
Citations number
40
Categorie Soggetti
Environment/Ecology
Journal title
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND HEALTH PART B-PESTICIDES FOOD CONTAMINANTS AND AGRICULTURAL WASTES
The purpose of this study was to determine radionuclide and trace element c
oncentrations in bottom-feeding fish (catftsh, carp, and suckers) collected
from the confluences of some of the major canyons that cross Los Alamos Na
tional Laboratory (LANL) lands with the Rio Grande (RG) and the potential r
adiological doses from the ingestion of these fish. Samples of muscle and b
one (and viscera in some cases) were analyzed for H-3 Sr-90,Cs-137, U-tot,
Pu-238, Pu-239,Pu-240, and Am-241 and Ag, As, Ba, Be, Cr, Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, P
b, Sb, Se, and Tl. Most radionuclides, with the exception of Sr-90, in the
muscle plus bone portions of fish collected from LANL canyons/RG were not s
ignificantly (p<0.05) higher from fish collected upstream (San Ildefonso/ba
ckground) of LANL. Strontium-90 in fish muscle plus bone tissue significant
ly (p<0.05) increases in concentration starting from Los Alamos Canyon, the
most upstream confluence (fish contained 3.4E-02 pCi g(-1) [126E-02 Bq kg(
-1)]), to Frijoles Canyon, the most downstream confluence (fish contained 1
4E-02 pCi g(-1) [518B-02 Bq kg(-1)]). The differences in Sr-90 concentratio
ns in fish collected downstream and upstream (background) of LANL, however,
were very small. Based on the average concentrations (+/-2SD) of radionucl
ides in fish tissue from the four LANL confluences, the committed effective
dose equivalent from the ingestion of 46 Ib (21 kg) (maximum ingestion rat
e per person per year) of fish muscle plus bone, after the subtraction of b
ackground, was 0.1 +/- 0.1 mrem y(-1) (1.0 +/- 1.0 mu Sv y(-1)), and was fa
r below the International Commission on Radiological Protection (all pathwa
y) permissible dose limit of 100 mrem y(-1) (1000 mu Sv y(-1)). Of the trac
e elements that were found above the limits of detection (Ba, Cu, and Hg) i
n fish muscle collected from the confluences of canyons that cross LANL and
the RG, none were in significantly higher (p<0.05) concentrations than in
muscle of fish collected from background locations.