RADIATION TO BONE FROM 29Sr
IN NEW YORK CITY RESIDENTS
JOSEPH RIVERA
Health and Safety Laboratory, U. 8. Atomic Energy Commission,
New York, New York
ABSTRACT
From measurements of the *°Sr content of the diet in New York City,
Chicago, and San Francisco made every three months since 1960 and
measurements of the Sr content of the vertebrae of accident victims
obtained at the three cities since
1961, parameters describing the
bone metabolism of **Sr by individuals of ages from birth to 20 years
have been inferred. The radiation dose to New York City residents
from "Sr received to date has been calculated.
LEVELS IN BONE
One of the main problems with which fallout investigators have
been concerned is the establishment of what radiation doses have been
delivered to bone from "Sr produced in nuclear weapon tests and what
doses will be delivered to bone as a result of past and possible future
tests.
This problem can be divided into two parts. The first is to recon-
struct the past Sr / calcium ratios in diets. This reconstruction can be
done as information is gained on the relation between fallout rates,
cumulative deposition of “Sr, and *Sr/calcium levels in foods. AS our
understanding of the meteorological processes governing the transport
and depostion of nuclear debris advances, we should be able to estab-
lish retrospectively what the ""Sr/calcium levels were likely to have
been in the past, where actual data do not exist, and we should also be
able to predict better what these levels will be in the future. The sec737