Strontium-90 and Cesium-137 in Milk and Certain other Materials Collected in Finland

Abstract

Sixty samples of human milk, 18 of bovine milk, 15 of reindeer milk, 1 of reindeer meat, and different lichens, all collected in Finland, were analyzed for 90Sr, and 137Cs. Reindeer milk contained the most 90Sr, being 119 pCi per liter. Only 5 samples of human milk had detectable amounts of 90Sr and 4 came from north of Oulu. Human milk from north and south of Oulu contained 114 and 19.7 pCi per liter of 137Cs whereas bovine milk from the same regions contained 125 and 84 pCi per liter of 137Cs. Reindeer milk from Lapland contained 1,647 pCi per liter of 137Cs which is 13 to 14 times more than that of human and bovine milk from the same area. A specimen of dried reindeer meat contained per kilogram, 237 pCi of 90Sr and 76,124 pCi of 137Cs. A sample of lichen, Cladonia species, contained 1,361 pCi of 90Sr and 21,173 pCi of 137Cs per kilogram.