plutonium not only to the inhalation -burden from cistern or ground water pathway but to the ingestion path- ingestion than do New Yorkers. way as well. assume here, of course, that Bikini Bennett has recently published We Island water is the only available data on fallout 239,240, in 1972 source for the present population. dietary components in New York that It follows that urine levels in the included a mean tap water concentra- Bikini population would exceed those tion of 0.3 f£Ci/liter from 1973. in a New York population even if Other data appropriate for compara- drinking water were the only pathway tive purposes are fallout levels in involved and each of the other path- untreated surface water of the Great ways contributed a similar level of Lakes , 1044 plutonium at Bikini and New York. These data are sum-~ marized in Table 2, along with the mean and range of plutonium concen- Dietary Intake trations in cistern and ground water from Bikini Island. Assuming that Terrestrial Food Pathway — The water consumption rates for individ- diet for the people on Bikini Island uals at Bikini and New York are consists of foods imported from the similar, we see that Bikinians United States and foods grown on experience a higher plutonium body Bikini Atoll. Table 2. The imported foods, Comparison of plutonium concentrations in water of Bikini Island with those in several U.S. sources. 239,240, FCi/liter Mean Range Location Data from Ref. No. Bikini (1975) Cistern water 1? 8-29 9 Ground water 44 6-122 9 New York (1973) City tap water 0.3 3 Great Lakes (1973) Superior 0.63 10 Michigan 0.73 10 Huron 0.63 10 Erie 0.17 _ 10 Ontario 0.25 11 9010228 PEREREPIGT aeBNETPZTRB tae LOTTRSEIN TTTI : tai We