Variation of the transfer coefficient for radiocaesium transport to sheep's milk during a complete lactation period

Radionuclide transfer to animal products: revised recommended transfer coefficient values

“…In contrast to the statement by Ward and Johnson (1989), a number of authors (see Howard et al, 1989Howard et al, , 1996Howard et al, , 1997Howard et al, , 2007aHove, 1991, 1993;Belli et al, 1993;Assimakopoulos et al, 1994;Beresford et al, 1998aBeresford et al, , 2000 have reported variations in transfer coefficients due to factors including: effect of age/body weight; physiological status; associated stable element status; and physicochemical form (including the ingestion of soil-or sediment-associated radionuclides).…”

The Importance of Source-Dependent Bioavailability in Determining the Transfer of Ingested Radionuclides to Ruminant-Derived Food Products

“…These authors have expressed their results in terms of the ratio of the equilibrium activity concentration of radiocesium in milk or meat to the daily intake of radiocesium [defined as the transfer coefficient by Johnson et al (18)]. While observed differences in this ratio may be due to variation in bioavailability, it may not be the only cause as transfer coefficients can be influenced by a number of physiological parameters such as feeding and growth rates (19) or stage of lactation (20). Consequently, comparative transfer coefficients should not be used as a measure of source-dependent bioavailability, as has previously been suggested (e.g., ref 6) unless the other factors that influence transfer coefficients are fully taken into account.…”