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Relationship between the Concentration of Caesium-137 in Milk and Man

Abstract

CAESIUM-137, which is present in the fallout from nuclear explosions and is a potential hazard to man, is detectable in most components of the diet, but the chief sources are milk and dairy produce1,2. Models that predict levels of caesium-137 in the food chain and in man have been proposed3, but they are restricted to a given geographical region. Because of diversity in dietary habits and food origins, we have attempted to relate the concentration of caesium-137 in man to its concentration in milk. This procedure should be satisfactory for extrapolation to the rest of the diet provided the variation of the concentration of caesium-137 in milk with time approximately parallels analogous variations in the remainder of the diet.

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MARSHALL, D., BURKINSHAW, L. Relationship between the Concentration of Caesium-137 in Milk and Man. Nature 240, 571–572 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/240571a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/240571a0

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