Re: Cs-137 in soil -Reply

[John Goldsmith <gjohn@bgumail.bgu.ac.il>]

Dear Radsafe colleagues:
	Since in this discussion, no one else has raised the matter of 
atmospheric nuclear test fallout as a contributor to 137 Cs in soil, it
is worth  attention, depending on what use you wish to make of the 
data.
      We were studying the relation of 137 Cs in soil of community to body 
burden in immigrants to Israel who had been exposed in the vicity of 
Chernobyl. (Quastel et al. Health Physics, vol 69, 102-110, 1995)
None of the body burden elevations we saw exceeded the levels found
and reported in 1972 as a result of atmospheric testing, which ended in 
the early 1960s. (Marei AN, Barkhudarov RM, Novikova NJ, Petukhova EV, 
Dubova D, and Briganina VM "Effect of Natural FActors on Cesium 137 
Accumulation in the bodies of residents in some geographic regions"
Health Physics vol. 22, 9-15, 1972.  Without looking up this article, I 
don't recall how much data on soil levels was given.
	I believe that the deposition was greater at higher lattitudes 
in the Northern hemisphere. For what purpose  are you interested in 
soil 137 Cs?
     gjohn@bgumail.bgu.ac.il   John Goldsmith, Ben Gurion University
                               POB 653, Beer Sheva Israel