Exposure of Indigenous people to radiation

[Norman Cohen <ncohen12@comcast.net>]

You all might find this interesting:



Silbo Lilian Mikaelsson wrote:



> For more information about the danger of radiactive contamination please visit : http://www.nrpa.no/fpinternet/english/publications/publications/bulletins/1999/SInfo99-13.htm

>

> Indigenous people are most exposed

> The largest contribution for radiocaesium exposure to the population in northern areas is fallout from atmospheric nuclear tests in the 1950’s and 60’s. In some areas the Chernobyl fallout has also contributed significantly to the exposure. The Arctic population are about 5 times more exposed to radioactive contamination than people from  more temperate areas with similar deposition. Indigenous people in the Arctic, mainly living of traditional food products e.g. reindeer herding Saamis, receive the highest doses from radioactive contamination.

>

>   The internal radiation exposure to both the average population and the special groups depend mainly on intake of locally produced food products like reindeer, freshwater fish, goat cheese, berries, mushrooms, game and lamb meat. In comparison, arctic population groups with a diet mainly based on marine products, receive relatively low doses. The most exposed population groups in the Arctic are in average receiving up to 50 times higher individual doses than members of the average arctic population.

>

> For the average Arctic populations, a range of different food products contribute to the total 137Cs intake. Canada is an exception, where the intake of radiocaesium is mainly caused by consumption of reindeer meat. The regional effect of dietary preferences is shown in Figure 4. For example, goat cheese is only an important source of radiocaesium intake in Norway. Intake of mushrooms are important in Sweden, Finland and Russia. However, there is a considerable lack in knowledge concerning the importance of natural food products for the intake of radionuclides to man. The intake of 137Cs for the selected groups were considerably higher compared to the average group as shown in Figure 5.  The major contributor for these groups was reindeer meat. Figure 4 and 5 show the estimated intake of 13! 7Cs for the average population and the selected groups in the Arctic (estimated for 1990-94).



Coalition for Peace and Justice and the UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr Ave., Linwood, NJ 08221; 609-601-8583 or 609-601-8537;  ncohen12@comcast.net  UNPLUG SALEM WEBSITE:  http://www.unplugsalem.org/  COALITION FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE WEBSITE:  http://www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org   The Coalition for Peace and Justice is a chapter of Peace Action.

"First they ignore you; Then they laugh at you; Then they fight you; Then you win. (Gandhi) "Why walk when you can fly?"  (Mary Chapin Carpenter)





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