IODINE-131
General
“. . . Doses to the thyroid from the major past tests were
estimated to have ranged from 100 to 200 millirems per year during
and immediately following periods of testing.
These values apply
only to individuals who were infants at the time of highest concentration of radioactive iodine.
The average value for all age
groups was about a tenth as much.
Although data from which thy-
roid doses during 1957-58 can be estimated are limited, it is
likely that there was much geographic variation, and in some limited areas of the United States the average thyroid doses were
probably many times the national average.
.. wre
", . . At the present time, the monitoring programs indicate
that I-131 levels accumulated during the past year to a value such
that the estimated radiation dose to the thyroid” (of young child-
ren) “is about 1-1/2 times the annual background from naturally
occurring materials, as a national average, and about 5 times the
annual background in a few areas .. .", 1.e. 0.15 and 0.5
reds...
.”
2.
Yearly Averages
-
.
DOE ARCHIVES
z
Table I lists the yearly averages since the start of nuclear
weapons tests in September 1961.
(Public Health Service network)
There were only two stations above a yearly average of 100 micro-
microcuries of I-131 per liter of milk (yyc/1); Palmer, Alaska (109)
and Salt Lake City, Utah ie
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