137Cs concentration in meat of wild boars ( Sus scrofa) in Croatia a decade and half after the Chernobyl accident

Abstract

Gamma-spectrometric measurements of 137Cs activities in meat of wild boars collected in Croatia at several locations with different levels of 137Cs contamination are presented. Samples were collected during the period between 2000 and 2002, about 15 years after the Chernobyl accident. 137Cs concentrations ranged over three orders of magnitude: 0.4–611.5 Bq kg −1. On the basis of these results, 137Cs concentrations at researched areas could be categorized into three groups: (i) the area of Slavonski Brod, Lipik and Slunj with 137Cs concentrations in meat of only a few Bq kg −1; (ii) the area of Vrbovsko and Sirac with 137Cs concentrations of a few tens of Bq kg −1; and (iii) the Fužine area with 137Cs values in wild boar meat of a few hundreds of Bq kg −1. In areas with approximately equal contamination level, 137Cs concentrations in wild boar meat varied over two orders of magnitude. This fact suggests that the main reason for high 137Cs values in wild boar meat could be due to food consumed by wild boars, and only secondarily in contamination level of area where they live. Intensive mushroom consumption during autumn months could be one of the factors responsible for high 137Cs values in wild boar meat. An average dose arising from 137Cs due to ingestion of wild boar meat in Croatia is below radiological health concern except in the area of Fužine, and only in cases of high annual wild boar meat intake, probably by hunters or members of their families.