Abstract
Austria was among the countries with the highest deposition of 134 Cs and 137 Cs after the accident on April 26, 1986. Therefore, we carefully monitored these radioisotopes through January, 1988. Using a sodium iodide scintillation detector, we analyzed 2131 samples of cow's milk from Austrian dairies, 221 pooled and individual breast milk samples and 242 samples of powdered infant formula. The detection limit for both 137 Cs and 134 Cs in 100 ml of milk was 3 Bq. Concentrations of 134 + 137 Cs combined (median; 95th percentile) in cow's milk were highest in May (48;491 Bq) and June (89; 213 Bq) 1986 and decreased until October 1986 (9; 38 Bq). A second increase was observed during the winter months 1986/87 with concentrations reaching their peak in April 1987 (69; 196 Bq). This was caused by the feeding of silage or hay that had been contaminated during the summer 1986. Since June 1987, the 95th percentile has not exceeded 37 Bq, the upper limit for infant food set by the EEC. The 95th percentile in breast milk and in infant formulas (imported from non-contaminated areas) never exceeded 21 Bq. Mothers were advised to continue breast-feeding as long as possible or to use infant formulas and until June 1987, mothers were advised to avoid feeding of cow's milk.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pietschnig, B., Haschke, F., Karg, V. et al. 32 CESIUM 134 + 137 IN BREAST MILK, COW'S MILK AND INFANT FORMULAS IN AUSTRIA AFTER THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT. Pediatr Res 24, 410 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198809000-00055
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198809000-00055
This article is cited by
-
The Chernobyl reactor accident
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry Articles (1991)