Authors: Fred J Rispoli Timothy Green Thomas A Fasano Vishal Shah
Publish Date: 2014/06/11
Volume: 21, Issue: 19, Pages: 11598-11602
Abstract
Due to activities involving nuclear energy research during the latter half of the 1900s environmental contamination in the form of elevated cesium137 levels was observed within the Brookhaven National Laboratory a US Department of Energy facility Between the years 2000 and 2005 the laboratory carried out a major soil cleanup effort to remove cesium137 from contaminated sites In this study we examine the effectiveness of the cleanup effort by comparing the levels of cesium137 in the meat of whitetailed deer found within and around the laboratory Results suggest that the cleanup was effective with mean concentration of cesium137 in the meat from within the laboratory decreasing from 204 Bq/g prior to 122 Bq/g after cleanup At the current level the consumption of deer would not pose any human health hazard Nevertheless statistically higher levels of cesium137 were detected in the deer within the laboratory as opposed to levels found in deer 1 mi beyond the laboratory site
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