Re: Tokaimura doses -- a retry of an earlier posting

["Bjorn Cedervall" <bcradsafers@hotmail.com>]

>from Tokaimura.  The public reaction may not be rational, but it is
apparently real.
---
We had a similar reaction in Sweden in 1986/87 (post "Chernobyl accident") 
with reindeer meat - the prices went down quite much that year and I ate 
more than ever that year (the taste is great - the meat is found in most 
Swedish food stores). The cesium levels were reasonably much higher than 
anything induced or released in the Tokaimura surroundings. Obviously the 
legal situation also was quite  different.

The fear (in Sweden) was very real: I remember one man who came to measure 
the radioactivity of some elk meat he had (about 90 min. drive into the 
countryside northwest of Stockholm, fall of 1986). The cesium levels were 
around 150 Bq Cs (134+137)/kg in his meat sample - he was very disappointed 
and suspicious and mumbered something about "I may give it to my dog" as he 
walked away. It was very sad to observe his air of distrust. Another man had 
experimented by boiling the meat over and over again - throwing away the 
water: Five boiling rounds and he had got rid of about 85% of the cesium but 
that greyish meat did not look like something I would have liked to eat.

It may be mentioned that we got elk or deer samples in the same area  with 
more than 2000-3000 Bq Cs (134+137)/kg. The variations were very large from 
animal to animal - even for the same local areas. Some of this is related to 
local mushroom availability and also to the habits of the  individuals (some 
deer individuals seem to specialize on groups like Boletus sp.). I am sure 
that you can find plenty of details about this in the litterature. The 
variations can be very large over the year and still probably peak at levels 
far higher than 10,000 Bq Cs-137/kg in some local areas in Sweden. The 
biological halflife is relatively short however (a few months) if you put 
these smaller animals (deer/reindeer) in a low cesium-level area.

If any Radsafer knows details about the Cs levels in people in the Bryansk, 
Gomel and neighboring areas the years following the Chernobyl accident - 
please comment. It seems reasonable to assume that some people may have got 
cesium levels much higher than 1000 Bq Cs (134+137)/kg.

And as I mentioned here long ago - one of our members of Parliament traveled 
by car at least some 130 miles to buy "becquerel free milk" for her children 
- but that was according to my opinion not a scientific issue.

My personal thoughts and ideas only,

Bjorn Cedervall   bcradsafers@hotmail.com

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