Re: Guideline values for activity in Foodstuffs

[Franz Schoenhofer <schoenho@via.at>]

At 11:14 24.03.1999 -0600, you wrote:
>Jim & Radsafe:
>
>You querried:  Can anyone provide me with or point me to a list of guideline
>values for
>consumption of mushrooms containing Cs-137?  
>
>The World Health Organization / Food and Agriculture Organization Codex
>Alimentarius Commission established a guildeline level of 1000 Bq/kg for
cesium
>contamination in foods moving in international trade (Health Physics,
57:1048,
>1989).  
>
>A method for optimization is described in ICRP Publication 63 Principles for
>Intervention for Protection of the Public in a Radiological Emergency,
(Annals
>of the ICRP, 22:4; 1991.  Annex B). The Annex used beef as an example to
>calculate an optimized level of 8000 Bq/kg for Cs-137 in beef to
correspond to
>an annual dose of a few mSv for moderate beef consumption.
>
>I'd be very interested in hearing any other sources of such numbers.  I'm
also
>interested in the levels observed in the mushrooms.

..............................................

The European Union has set a limit for Cs-137 + Cs-134 in foodstuff at a
level of 600 Bq/kg. For milk and products it is 370 Bq/kg or liter.

Last year there were found - if I remember correctly - in 19 samples of
mushrooms (Cantharellus and Boletus edulis) analysed in the European Union
levels exceeding the 600 Bq/kg, a few of them in Austria, two of them in my
laboratory in Vienna. They were imported from Eastern countries. I cannot
discuss here the problem of "homogeneity" in 10 tons of mushrooms being
imported on a lorry. I can mention that at an upcoming conference on
sampling one paper has been announced with the title "The fairy tale of the
"representative sample"". Anyway the EU decided to take action toward more
strict control of imports. I do not want to comment this from the radiation
protection point of view. 

"Mushroom" is not "mushroom" as we use to say in German. Different sorts of
mushrooms show differences in Cs-uptake from soil by orders of magnitude.
The actual composition of soil and the Cs-contamination of the soil plays a
similarily important role.

If fellow RADSAFERs are really deeply interested in this topic, please
contact me privately and I will do my best to give actual information.

Best regards,

Franz


Franz Schoenhofer
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: +43-1-495 53 08
Fax.: same number
mobile phone: +43-664-338 0 333
e-mail: schoenho@via.at

Office:
Hofrat Dr. Franz Schönhofer
Federal Institute for Food Control and Research
Department of Radiochemistry
Kinderspitalg. 15
A-1095 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: +43-1-40 490 27820
e-mail: schoenhofer@baluf.via.at
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