DIETARY INTAKE OF RADIONUCLIDES
60
Tr
=
—30 -—
PERCENT
883
en TEENAGE
-
40 F—-
~|
30 r—
po= 2k 6 ne FS I nnn RURAL
~
20 |
“8 MILITARY
RURAL
10 gpg LOW INCOME —
0
NORTHEAST
UNITED STATES
OOO OO
-10 +oo
OOO URBAN
4
0 p
e
—
NATIONAL
BALANCE SHEET
-30
1960
|
1961
|
1962
YEAR
|
1963
Fig. 4—-Influence of using various consumption estimates on annual
Sr-intake levels for the northeastern United States for 1960—1963.
This error can be attributed to the misuse, unrepresentativeness, or
unavailability of accurate food-consumption data. To operate within
the bounds of such an error leaves many unanswered questions about
the actual radionuclide intake.
The potential variations in excess of
these examples are many Since we have verylittle information on diet
structures for many groups of our population. Some data on “high”
food consumers indicate a rate of consumption for certain food groups
that is twice the average rates used in these computations.’
When these possible variations are coupled with the geographic
differences in fallout deposition, it becomes, not a question of how
close to actual intake our estimates are, but a question of how far our
estimates may be from true intake values. The rangesof Sr in milk
provide a corollary to this concept since it is not uncommon to experience a 15-fold difference in reported concentrations within the
United States. When these differences are coupled with variations in