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
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