RE: background vs man-made emmissions - fallout

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@aecl.ca>]

Glenn,

I presume that you have noticed the difference in wording between the quote
in your initial posting on this thread ( "High levels of residual radiation"
etc. )  and those you cite below ( "Out of 22 samples, 137Cs was detected
for 11 samples", "Some of the rock and roof tile samples...had a small but
detectable amount of 137Cs activity", "levels of 90Sr 
> contamination were too low to allow a discussion of the exposure risks."
> ).
> 
....everything we eat and drink and are made of has "small but detectable"
amounts of radioactivity, including K-40, C-14, U, Th, Po-210, Ra, etc.

> 	The message from Norman & Karen Cohen[SMTP:norco@bellatlantic.net]
> which was posted on Saturday
>  April 29, 2000 8:11 PM was about "what long-term doses of radiation does
> in the form of latent cancers."
..its obvious from your most recent information that whatever trace amounts
of fallout may have been detected did not play any role in carcinogenesis
among the A-bomb survivors. Seems to me you've answered your own question ?

Jaro


> ----------
> From: 	GlennACarlson@aol.com[SMTP:GlennACarlson@aol.com]
> Reply To: 	radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu
> Sent: 	Sunday April 30, 2000 3:41 PM
> To: 	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: 	Re: background vs man-made emmissions - fallout
> 
> I thought the existence of fallout at Hiroshima was well established,
> though 
> the levels and the health impact are still debated.  Is this incorrect?  
> 
> Consider also the following:
> 
> Health Phys 1996 Sep;71(3):340-6; 137Cs concentration in soil samples from
> an 
> early survey of Hiroshima atomic bomb and cumulative dose estimation from
> the 
> fallout.  Shizuma K, Iwatani K, Hasai H, Hoshi M, Oka T, Okano M  Faculty
> of 
> Engineering, Hiroshima University, Japan.
> 
> Low background gamma-ray measurement has been performed to determine the  
> 137Cs content in soil samples collected in a very early survey of the 
> Hiroshima atomic bomb. These soil samples were collected just 3 d after
> the 
> explosion within 5 km from the hypocenter and were not exposed to the
> global 
> fallout from nuclear weapon tests. Out of 22 samples, 137Cs was detected
> for 
> 11 samples, and their radioactivities ranged from 0.16-10.6 mBq g-1 at the
> 
> time of the measurement. A comparison of the 137Cs deposition with the 
> rainfall area within Hiroshima city indicates that the rainfall area was 
> wider than the previously proposed one. Cumulative exposure by the fallout
> 
> has been estimated to be 0.31 mC kg-1 (0.12 R) in Hiroshima city except
> for 
> the heavy fallout area and at most 1.0 mC kg-1 (4 R) in the heavy fallout 
> area.
> 
> 
> J Radiat Res (Tokyo) 1991 Mar;32 Suppl:32-9; Studies of radioactivity 
> produced by the Hiroshima atomic bomb: 2. Measurements of fallout 
> radioactivity. Hasai H, Hoshi M, Yokoro K  Faculty of Engineering,
> Hiroshima 
> University, Japan.
> 
> Three studies of fallout measurements were reviewed for the discussion of 
> possible radioactivity intake from the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The first
> study 
> discussed correlations between enriched 234U and 137Cs specific activities
> 
> from the measurement of soil samples collected in the "black rain" area.
> The 
> second study measured 137Cs activity on the rock and roof tile samples 
> collected in the hypocenter area immediately after the explosion. Some of
> the 
> rock and roof tile samples collected near the hypocenter had a small but 
> detectable amount of 137Cs activity. However, it has been determined that 
> 137Cs exposure, for example, was negligible compared with DS86 dose 
> estimates, since these activity levels were low. The third study detected 
> 90Sr activity in some of the specimens of human bones exhumed on Ninoshima
> 
> Island. This study compared the difference in activity between the bone
> head 
> and shaft, with higher activities obtained in the bone head. This fact 
> suggests a short intake period for this activity, however, the levels of
> 90Sr 
> contamination were too low to allow a discussion of the exposure risks.
> 
<SNIP>
************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html