-hthis vicinity would be acquired before the fish are taken from the water.

Tms far, we have been unable to obtain any fish with sufficient radioactivity

from this source to permit an approximate empirical determination of the
external radiation level which would correspond to maximum permissible average
concentrations in food and water discussed above. However, on the basis of

the uptake of the various fission products by fish under other conditions,

the Division of Biology and Medicine, 1].5.A.R.C., estimates that the criterion
of 0.1 milliroentgens per hour at 5 cm is unnecessarily restrictive for this
case.
The radioisotopes sr®9, sr, and patho which limit the quantities of
fission products which may be permitted on the ontside of the fish after

they are taken from water are relatively unimportant in considering the
radioactivity which may be permitted in the flesh of the fish, since these
radioisotopes are not retained in the flesh. The radioisotopes taken up by

the flesh, of which Ce137 is an example, have very mich higher permissible

concentrations in food and water, of the order of 1 x 1073 microcuries per
milliliter. From a fish weighing 50 to 100 pounds, the gamma radiation
from a maximum permissible concentration of these radioisotopes in the flesh
is estimated to be several milliroentgens per hour, measured at a distance
of 5 centimeters from the fish. The actual radiation level will, of course,
depend upon the size of the fish.

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