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HW-80991
22
People who eat local fish ingest zn®° along with the P
The expo65
sure that results from the Zn’~
is very small but because it is a gamma
emitter, its presence in the body can be detected by whole body counting
techniques.
(Small amounts of P 32 in the body cannot be measured accu-
rately because p22 emits only beta particles.)
A few fishermen have been
counted in the Hanford Whole Body Counter and the amounts of zn®° detected
were much smaller than expected on the basis of their estimated fish consumption.
Such results suggest that fishermen tend to over-estimate their
fish consumption and, therefore, that calculations of P 32
intake based on
such estimates yield values that are substantially higher than actually
occurred.
Migratory waterfowl, such as mallard ducks, Canada geese, ete. ;
that have utilized the Hanford section of the river may also contain p22
and zn°,
Hunters from Washington contributed samples from 299 ducks
bagged during the 1963 hunting season.
Results of radioassay of these sam-
ples and of 186 ducks collected from swamps and ponds within the project
boundaries, are tabulated in Appendix A, Table 11 and 12.
Of all the ducks
contributed by hunters, only 22 contained concentrations of P 32 greater than
the detectable level of 50 pc/g of flesh (wet weight) and only one was greater
than 500 pe/g (540 pce/g).
About one-half of the ducks collected within the
project boundary contained detectable amounts of pe? and 37 of these ducks
contained greater than 500 pc p22 /g,
The maximum concentration found
was 4800 pc/g of flesh.
D.
Radionuclides in Marine Organisms
zn®? and p22
are the only radionuclides of reactor effluent origin
found in sufficient abundance beyond the mouth of the Columbia River to be
of radiological interest.
Oysters have been found to contain higher concen-
trations of zn®° than other common sea food organisms.
zn®9
Concentrations of
and p? measured in oysters grown in the Willapa Bay area are shown
in Figure 10, and the analytical results are tabulated in Appendix C,
Table 6.
The average concentrations in 26 samples (a total of 52 1b) taken
periodically throughout the year were 80 pe zn®°/¢g and 4 pe pig.