material to obtain a real number, it
there may be, use of food products
is clear that the plutonium concen-
from Bikini would lead to higher body
trations are almost 100 times any
burdens and therefore higher concen-
shown in Table 3 for terrestrially
trations of plutonium in the urine
derived food products in the New
of the Bikini population.
York diet.
For example,
if one assumes an
It is not yet clear just how much
average plutonium concentration of
of the different food products grown
0.6 pCi/kg fresh weight in all the
on Bikini Island are actually used
terrestrial food products of Bikini
in the diet.
Island and a combined intake of all
use
However, whatever the
foods of 100 g/day or 36.5 kg/yr,
(and there is undoubtedly some)
then the yearly plutonium intake
and whatever increased future use
would be 21.9 pCi, compared to the
1.45 pCi (1.6 pCi minus the intake
Table 4.
Concentrations of
239,240,
from shelifish, fresh fish, and water)
in foods grown on Bikini
estimated by Bennett? for New York.
Island*; the sign ''<"
denotes the detection limit
Thus, plutonium levels in a diet
centration was somewhere
below this limit.
entirely derived from Bikini terres-~
for that sample; actual con-
trial foods are 15 times the levels
Concentration,
pCi/kg (fresh)
Food product
in a terrestrial diet from New York.
Marine Food Pathway — Marine food
Bikini June 1975
Pandanus
<2.7
products from Bikini Atoll supply a
Breadfruit
<3.6
substantial amount of plutonium to
Papaya
the diet for the inhabitants.
0.67
Some
Coconut
<0.27
plutonium concentrations in fish at
Squash
<3.6
Bikini Atoll have been published by
Pig muscle
Nevissi and Schell.)
0.72
Chicken flesh
These data are
abstracted in Table 5 along with some
<6.3
data on concentrations in marine
Bikini 1974
Banana”
<3.6
invertebrates./4
Papaya?
<1.8
trations in fish muscle and eviscer-
Squash?
<9.0
ated whole fish and the detection
Pandanus®
<1.8
limits (denoted in Table 5 by ''<'"')
as real numbers, and weighting by the
“pata from a survey by one of the
authors. 4
Data from Ref.
number of fish per sample, we find the mean concentration of plutonium
12.
-10-
Sia, 50) 3230
Using the concen-