Sweden to examine health risks of burning biomass -Cs-137 Pathways

[RadiumProj@cs.com]

A brief story which just ran on the Reuters'  wire may be of interest to some.

<<Sweden to examine health risks of burning biomass
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SWEDEN: December 6, 2000

STOCKHOLM - Sweden's National Energy Administration said on Tuesday it was 
investing 30 million crowns ($3 million) in a project to examine the health 
risks from burning biomass..........>>

<A HREF="http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9230";>Click here: 
Planet Ark</A>

url if above hyperlink is not functioning: 
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9230
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COMMENT ON THIS STUDY:
Earlier studies of biomass in Sweden by the Swedish Radiation Protection 
Institute have shown elevated levels of Cs-137 in the forest ecosystem, and 
this present study will likely be considering the airborne emissions of 
Cs-137, and the retention of Cs-137 in ash from biomass burning plants 
[Cs-137 from general weapon's fallout and Chernobyl] and Sr-90 from 
generalized fallout from open air nuclear weapon's testing. Ash from wood 
burning power plants is often used as a fertilizer in farming. 

For example related to power related biomass woodash use in Vermont in 
agriculture, as of a few years ago 3,000 cubic yards of woodash generated 
each year  from a modest 50 MW[e] wood burning power plant in Burlington, was 
being mixed with manure and spread on fields maintained by  "organic" food 
coops in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont to grow organic crops avoiding the 
use of  regular "chemical" fertilizers. This organic produce from fields 
being enriched in fallout Cs-137 [and Sr-90] was being sold widely to organic 
food coops like Bread and Circus who have taken a very anti-food irradiation 
position being opposed to any "irradiated" food. Interestingly, these organic 
coops do not seem concerned about using woodash on their fields thereby 
enriching the soil in fallout Cs-137 and Sr-90.

Woodash from northern Vermont was found to contain about 15,000 pCi of Cs-137 
per kg of ash in a study I conducted of fallout in woodash in 1990, which was 
presented to an annual meeting of the HPS . ["Nationwide Survey of Cs-137 in 
Wood Ash --Or Woodburner's and Organic Farmers, Is it Time to Kiss Your Ash 
Goodbye?, Washington, DC, HPS 1991 Annual Meeting, Washington, DC]

Stewart Farber
Public Health Sciences
172 Old Orchard Way
Warren, VT 05674
email: radiumproj@cs.com
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