DOE ARCHIVES
Part Vill
Biology and Medicine
PROJECT SUNSHINE (Qe
Monitoring and sampling of worldwide radioactive fallout continued throughout the quarter.
The Health and Safety Laboratory of the New York Operations Office prepared a report which
brings together all the data that have been obtained on the deposition and uptake of fallout
since systematic monitoring and sampling began.* The data on gummedfilm, surface air
monitoring, Pacific Ocean water, and human bone sampling are only summarized in the report
because they comprise hundreds of thousands of individual listings. However, the detailed in-
formation is unclassified and available to anyone.
Stratospheric Monitoring
Table 1 summarizes the results of analysis for strontium 90 of stratospheric samples
collected during the period November 1956 through January 1958, based on data available
Table 1—Average Concentrations of Strontium 90 in Stratospheric Sampies Collected
November 1956 through January 1958*
(Strontium 90 content expressed in micromicrocuries per 1,000 cubic feet of air,
reduced to standard conditions.)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
San Angelo, Texas
Panama Canal Zone
France Air Force Base
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Altitude
strontium 90
Average
Number
of
strontium 90
Average
Number
of
strontium 90
Average
Number
of
strontium 90
Average
Number
(feet)
content
samples
content
samples
content
samples
content
samples
90,000
80,000
65,000
50,000
7+ 10T
1027
244156
925
10
8
17
19
545
15 + 10
29 + 12
2+2
14
11
10
10
T25
14211
29 + 26
-
2
5
6
0
929
12+8
17 +13
isi
li
14
11
53
of
* Based on data available through June 26, 1958. Analyses had not been completed on all samples collected during
this period. The program calls for one sample a month from each altitude at each location. In some instances the sampie
was not recovered.
t Range shows one atandard deviation above and below average. Standard deviations sbown include both errors of
measurement and variations in strontium 90 content from month to month.
{These samples were collected in the vicinity of the tropopause and probably do not represent stratospheric concentrations. The 50,000-foot sampling level is usually below the stratosphere at this location.
* Copies of this report, ‘"Environmental Contamination from Weapons Teatsa —A Compilation of Data
Concerning Transport, Deposition, Distribution, and Biological Uptake of Worldwide Radioactive Fallout,.’’
HASL~-42, were provided to the Joint Committee. The report will be aold by the Office of Technical
Services, Department of Commerce.
3
a
ree,