29
The strontium problem is move serious.
Its duration would be far
longer (the half-life of strontium is 28 years compared to a half-life
of 73} of 8 days), and no relatively simple mechanism is known for
blocking absorption of the strontium into the bone.
However, it seems strongly probable that if strontium-90 contamination were found to be highly dangerous in the postattack world, adequate countermeasures could be employed.
decontaminating milk. 22,23
Techniques exist now for
They are thoroughly effective and quite
economical -- for about a cent a quart or less -- and these same techniques work with other liquid foods such as soups, purees, fruit juices,
etc.
Beer and wine, no doubt, could be included in this category.
Other options exist.
For example, contaminated grains could be fed to
meat animals which serve very effectively as screening agents.
There
would, of course, be a net loss in the food value by the conversion of
grain to meat.
The maximum efficiency in terms of poundsof eatable
meat per pound of grain is on the average about 15% for beef, about 30%
for chickens, and for pork, it is somewhere in between.
In a postattack world, some strontium-bearing foods (grains especially) might have to be included in the human diet (at least, the strontium
levels will be higher than they are now)). 24
Studies are underway in
the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug
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