A comparison of doses from 137Cs and 210Po in marine food: A major international study

• Published in: Journal of environmental radioactivity 1997, Vol.34 (1), p.69-90
• Main Authors: Aarkrog, A., Baxter, M.S., Bettencourt, A.O., Bojanowski, R., Bologa, A., Charmasson, S., Cunha, I., Delfanti, R., Duran, E., Holm, E., Jeffree, R., Livingston, H.D., Mahapanyawong, S., Nies, H., Osvath, I., Pingyu, Li, Povinec, P.P., Sanchez, A., Smith, J.N., Swift, D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Marine and brackish environment
• ISSN: 0265-931X; 1879-1700
• DOI: 10.1016/0265-931X(96)00005-7

Radioactivity levels of natural 210Po and anthropogenic 137Cs in sea water and biota (fish and shellfish) have been estimated for the FAO fishing areas on the basis of measurements carried out in recent years. Collective doses resulting from seafood consumption are calculated for each FAO area using radioactivity data for water and biota. Good agreement is observed between the results calculated by these two methods, with the exception of the doses from 210Po via shellfish consumption. The collective effective dose commitment from 137Cs in marine food in 1990 has been estimated at 160 man Sv with an uncertainty of 50%. The corresponding dose from 210Po is 30000 man Sv with an estimated uncertainty of a factor of 5. The results confirm that the dominant contribution to doses derives from natural 210Po in fish and shellfish and that the contribution from anthropogenic 137Cs (mainly originating from nuclear weapons tests) is negligible.