Relationship Between the Rate of Fall-Out and the Concentration of Strontium-90 in Human Diet in the United Kingdom

The relationship between the rate of fall-out and the concentration of Sr/sup 90/ in human diet was calculated for the United Kingdom during 1958. Data from a detailed study of the content of Sr/sup 90/ in human diet and results of field experiments on the absorption of Sr/sup 90/ from the soil were employed.The fraction of the Sr/sup 90/ in milk which is attributable to absorption from soil was also calculated. Results are presented in tabular form and are compared with an assessment based on 1957 data. From an analysis of the data it appears that during 1958 the contamination of milk and other agricultural produce did not rise as greatly as the rate of fall-out. This was attributed to the higher rainfall during 1958 which caused a larger fraction of the deposition to be removed from plants in wash off. (C.H.)