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Re: News on BNL Deer
Here we go again. Somebody writes something about something and "everybody"
on RADSAFE is speculating, interpreting and stating something about
something.
Nobody seems to care for the facts.
The facts is that the article does not contain any information in real
numbers, which would make it possible to comment on. Something "registered
some pCi's" and it was higher by a factor of something to the average and
even to the highest one observed. To me it seems natural, that highest
values are higher than anything observed before. There is no information on
what radionuclide was observed - was it Cs-137, was it I-131, was it Zr-95,
was it tritium. Was it observed in muscle, in thyroid, in the liver, in
spleen. Please do not tell me, that it was some kind of gross-beta
measurement of whatever organ, then I would loose my last respect for the US
laboratories.
What puzzles me even more, when reading this queer article, is the
statement, that eating the deer meat would pose a health risk. Let's assume
the measurement would be correctly 21 pCi of Cs-137 per gram (which is
unusual, because usually the activity concentrations are given as pCi (or
rather Bq) per kilogram. I may put forward that after the Chernobyl accident
in Austria no limit was set for game, because the consumption rate is about
750 g per year and actually no risk groups existed. We measured
concentrations of up to several hundreds of nCi/kg. The limit set by the
European Union was 600 Bq/kg (approx. 16 nCi/kg).
Everybody knows, that such limits set are far below any levels which could
cause harm.
I wait for real data and not the nonsense some journalist writes to earn his
money. I think everybody else should do so.
Franz
-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Cehn@AOL.COM <Cehn@AOL.COM>
An: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu <radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>
Datum: Dienstag, 19. Februar 2002 18:43
Betreff: News on BNL Deer
>Tues. Feb 19, 2002
>Radiation Is High in Dead Deer
>By TAMER EL-GHOBASHY
>
>Rudolph may not be the only glowing deer in town.
>
>A dead fawn found last month on the property of Brookhaven National
Laboratory on Long Island was tested and found to have many times the level
of radiation typically found in big game in the area, lab officials revealed
yesterday.
>
>"It's an oddball," said Timothy Green, the natural resources manager at the
Suffolk County lab. "This is twice the highest level we've seen on site.
It's highly unusual."
>
>Lab officials believe the 2-year-old deer ate grass growing on soil
contaminated by radioactive material somewhere on the 5,265-acre lab
grounds.
>
>Though 95% of the soil on the lab's property has been cleaned, Green said
two fenced-off areas are still scheduled for decontamination.
>
>"The likely scenario is that the deer fed in those fenced areas or other
areas before they were cleaned up," Green said.
>
>Although Green insisted the find posed no risk to humans who came into
contact with the deer, lab officials are concerned for people who hunt in
the area.
>
>"Eating the deer meat poses a health risk to humans," Green said. "But you
would have to consume almost 64 pounds of it. That's not likely to happen."
>
>Tested Several Times
>
>The fawn's carcass was found near the William Floyd Parkway on Jan. 9. The
animal appeared to have been struck by a car.
>
>After several radiation tests on the deer, lab scientists found it
contained 21 picocuries of radioactive material. A picocurie is a unit used
to measure radioactivity.
>
>Last year, deer collected around the lab averaged 1.64 picocuries, although
one registered 11 picocuries, Green said.
>
>If consumed, high levels of radiation can affect cells in humans and lead
to cancer. According to health officials, safe levels of radiation exposure
in humans hover around 9 picocuries a year.
>
>Hunting is allowed near the lab in January. Brookhaven lab officials
informed community groups and the state Health Department of the deer find.
>
>Green said there is no need for alarm, but the lab is taking the matter
seriously.
>
>"The concern here is mainly for wildlife in the area," he said. "And we
want to make sure we are protecting the health of hunters."
>
>
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