Tracy B L, Kramer G H
Bureau of Radiation and Medical Devices, Department of National Health and Welfare, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Public Health Rev. 1992;20(1-2):75-86.
Hunting and food-gathering societies are particularly vulnerable to the effects of fallout, since these people are often at the head of natural food chains which can bioaccumulate toxic substances. This paper describes a study on the effects of fallout radiocesium in caribou consumers of northern Canada. Portable whole body counting equipment was transported into five Arctic communities in 1989-90 and used to measure radiocesium body burdens in over 1100 people. The results were compared with a similar survey carried out in 1967-68. The mean body burden for adults in each community had decreased by a factor of 20 to 30 since the earlier survey. It was possible to derive an effective half time of about 4.5 years for the decrease of Cs-137 body burdens in the Arctic. The mean lifetime dose from the ingestion of radiocesium since 1967 amounted to not more than 12 mSv, with possibly an equal contribution from the period before 1967. The current radiation doses are much less than natural background and it is possible to reassure northern residents that caribou meat remains a safe and nutritious food source.
狩猎和食物采集社会特别容易受到沉降物影响，因为这些人群往往处于自然食物链的顶端，而有害物质可能在食物链中生物累积。本文描述了一项关于加拿大北部食用驯鹿人群中沉降放射性铯影响的研究。1989 - 1990年，便携式全身计数设备被运到五个北极社区，用于测量1100多人的放射性铯体内负荷。研究结果与1967 - 1968年进行的一项类似调查进行了比较。自早期调查以来，每个社区成年人的平均体内负荷下降了20至30倍。可以得出北极地区铯 - 137体内负荷下降的有效半衰期约为4.5年。自1967年以来，摄入放射性铯的平均终生剂量不超过12毫希沃特，1967年之前的时期可能也有同样的剂量贡献。目前的辐射剂量远低于自然本底，并且可以向北部居民保证，驯鹿肉仍然是一种安全且营养丰富的食物来源。
