- 63 chemically similar elements.
of strontium and calcium,
The abundance in sea water
which is chemically similar to
strontium, is part of the reason that S$r90 is not abundant
in marine organisms (Table IV).
Another factor is the
lew specific activity for Sr9° in sea water due to
mixing and dilutien by ocean waters.
The low level of
csl47 in marine organisms cannot be accounted for entirely
for the same reasons,
because the stable isotopes of
cesium are scarce in the sea.
However,
potassium,
an
element chemically similar to cesium, is abundant (Table
IV)
and also,
the specific activity for Csl37 in sea water
is low.
The Sr9° in canned tuna fish and salmon has been
determined by the Health and Safety Laboratory of the U.S.
Atomic Energy Commission.
In 48 analyses of samples re-
ceived between April 20, 1956 and August 8, 1957, the
highest value was ,.004 wuc/g, wet weight (U. S. Atomic
Energy Commission report HASL 42 1958).
Because the
values were very low and there seemed to be no trend in
time or location,
arily.
from the
the sampling was discontinued tempor-
The health hazard from sr9° which is determined
ratio of gr90
to calcium is
low for fish because