Strontium90 and Milk: Estimates of the Dietary Significance of Changes in Milk Consumption

Abstract

Summary Extensive studies have indicated that the presence of milk in the average diet in the United States has been a significant factor in reducing the population bone burden of Sr 90 below that which would have resulted from the same diet without milk. This has resulted because the level of Sr 90 depositing in human bone has been shown to be dependent on the Sr 90 /Ca ratio present in the total diet, and milk has contained a lower Sr 90 /Ca ratio than the average of the other foods in the diet. Estimates have been made to relate the effects of possible changes in milk consumption on the resultant Sr 90 /Ca ratio in the diet. Analyses of the Sr 90 /Ca ratios that have been observed in milk and the remainder of the diet indicate that postulated practices such as even the removal of most of the Sr 90 from milk might actually increase the bone deposition level of Sr 90 if accompanied by a significant decrease in milk consumption.