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Isotopic and Nuclear Analytical Techniques for Health and Environment 10 - 13 June 2003 , Vienna, Austria. 90 Sr IN VARIOUS FOOD AND FOODSTUFFS U. R epin c , L. Benedik , R. Jakopic Department of Environmental Sciences Jo z ef Stefan Institute , Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, SLOVENIA.
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Isotopic and Nuclear Analytical Techniques for Health and Environment 10 - 13 June 2003, Vienna, Austria 90Sr IN VARIOUS FOOD AND FOODSTUFFSU.Repinc, L. Benedik,R. Jakopic Department of Environmental SciencesJozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, SLOVENIA
Radionuclides of interest - produced in fission processes which may contribute significantly to human exposure
Characteristics of strontium 89Sr (t1/2 = 50.5 d, Emax = 1.49 MeV) 89Y (stable) 90Sr (t1/2 = 28.7 y, Emax = 0.546 MeV) 90Y (t1/2 = 64.1h, Emax = 2.28 MeV) 90 Zr (stable) IIA. Group of the Periodic Table • chemically similar to calcium • 20-30% of absorbed Sr is deposited in the bone, 1% is distributed among the blood volume, extracellular fluid, soft tissue, and surface of the bone • internal exposure to Sr-90 is linked to bone cancer, cancer of the soft tissue near the bone and leukemia
90Sr • is considered one of the most hazardous fission products: • high fission yield • has a long physical half-life (28.7 years) • has a long biological half-life (49.3 years) • high radiotoxicity due to its tendency to deposit in bones • is one of the main component of fallout activity after an accident: • - high fission yield • - relatively short-lived (50.5 days), decays to undetectable levels in a few months • - it is not considered as hazardous as 90Sr 89Sr
Food sampling • individual food items, not total diet samples (to indicate which countermeasures should be taken to reduce population exposure) • radionuclides most likely to be present in terrestrial food and environment or can be rapidly accumulated by fresh water or marine organisms like oysters, clams, shrimp, etc.
Samples selected • foodstuffs for infants • milk powder, fruit milk mash, • infant milk, wheat flakes • - eggs: whitesand yolk • sea food • golden grey mullet, gilthead seabream, European anchovy, mussels • - meat(beef) • - freshwater fish: trout • vegetables: cabbage, potato
Strontium separation procedure preconcentration of alkaline elements K and Si removal separation of strontium and calcium Ca removal removal of Fe, Al
Strontium separation procedure – cont. removal of Ba, Ra, Pb centrifugation on 22 mm diameter planchette, drying determination of the chemical yield by weighing SrCO3 measurement of 89Sr, 90Sr/90Y on beta counter
Beta counting • 22 mm diameter planchettes • calibrated with 90Sr/90Y standard • 17% counting efficiency, 90Sr 43% counting efficiency, 90Y A multilogger LB 5310 low-level gas proportional counter (Berthold Inc., Bad Wildbad, Germany)
90Sr activity calculation A - 90Sr activity in the sample, Bq/kg R - count rate of the sample (without background), cpm Rs+b -count rate of the sample and background, cpm Rb – background count rate, cpm ts – measuring time, sample tb – measuring time, background YSr – chemical yield of the separation Sr-90 - counting efficiency for 90Sr Y-90 – counting efficiency for 90Y m - sample weight (kg) h – decay constant for 90Y (1.8022E-4 min-1) t – ingrowth time from separation of 90Sr to counting (min)
Results TABLE I. RESULTS OF 90Sr DETERMINATION IN SELECTED FOOD AND FOODSTUFF SAMPLES, Bq/kg FRESH WEIGHT
TABLE II.RESULTS FOR 90Sr IN FRESHWATER FISH SAMPLES, INCLUDED IN THE KRŠKO NPPMONITORING PROGRAMME
TABLE III. RESULTS OF Sr-90 DETERMINATION IN SELECTED FOOD AND FOODSTUFF SAMPLES, Bq/kg FRESH WEIGHT TABLE IV. COUNCIL REGULATION (EURATOM) NO.3954/87 OF 22 DECEMBER 1987
Conclusions • activity concentrations in selected food and foodstuff samples are low (below detectable 0.01 to 0.9 Bq/kg 90Sr) • activity concentrations in selected food and foodstuff samples are below maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination laid down in EU regulations • no significant differences in freshwater fish samples from the vicinity of NPP Krško could be observed due to the operation of NPP • results confirm that selected food and foodstuffs do not represent a health hazard to the population