Whole-body burdens of radionuclides, especially cesium-137, were determined in 703 northern Alaskan Eskimos during the summer of 1962. Correlation of these amounts with dietary information obtained from the subjects showed Cs13' body burdens were directly related to amounts of caribou or reindeer consumed. Maximum Cs13' body burdens were found in residents of Anaktuvuk Pass, where an average adult contained about 450 nc. Lowest values occurred among Eskimos who ate substantial amounts of marine mammals and fish. Natives in equilibrium with the principal source of Cs137 in their diet contained body burdens about 10 times their weekly Cs137 intake. Various factors affecting the C S '~~ body burden found during the study are discussed.
During the summer of 1962, levels of radioactivity in over 700 people at four villages above the Arctic Circle in Alaska were measured with a transportable whole-body counter. The averages for body burden of cesium-137 were much higher than the average for people in the rest of the United States. The people of the interior village of Anaktuvuk Pass had the highest average burden of cesium-137, which was 421 nanocuries; the maximum burden was 790 nanocuries.
Thin NaI (TI) scintillation counters were used for the assessment of body burdens in dogs exposed to 23QPu aerosol. Experiments were made with both a dog phantom and live dogs. Although the count rate was affected by changes in dog size and isotopic composition of the plutonium, the limiting factor in the accurate assessment of body burdens in our work was the distribution of the plutonium within the dog. Despite these problems, the body burdens of dogs have been determined with an accuracy of f 10% at 0.1 pCi levels, The average sensitivity obtained when counting the 17 keV X-rays emitted was 2.28 0.16 countsfminlnCi and was 13.3 i 1.1 counts/minfnCi when counting both the X-rays and 60 keV 241Am gamma rays. These sensitivities are based on body burdens determined by post-mortem alpha-counting analysis of the tissues of eight dogs that had previously been counted in the plutonium counter. In this study thirty exposed dogs were counted and body burdens ranging from 0.136 pCi to 3.12 pCi were observed.
Measurements of the cesium-137 content of northern Alaskan natives during the summer of 1964 indicated that the adults of the interior village of Anaktuvuk Pass had the highest average body burden: 1280 nanocuries of cesium-137. This is an increase of 200 percent over the average body burden found in the summer of 1962 and 100 percent over that found in the summer of 1963. The greatest burden found in a native in 1964 was 2.4 microcuries of cesium-137, but the highest burden of all, 3.0 microcuries, was measured in a non-native living mainly on caribou meat. Sodium-22 was found in samples of urine from Eskimos, and subsequently in the Eskimos themselves and in reindeer and caribou meat.
During the summer of 1963 people at five villages above the Arctic Circle in Alaska were measured for accumulated radioactivity with a portable whole-body counter. Adults of the interior village of Anaktuvuk Pass showed the highest average body burden, 628 nanocuries of cesium-137. This is an increase of nearly 50 percent over the summer before. The maximum burden foundwas 1.24 microcuries.
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