The effectiveness of alginates to reduce the transfer of radiostrontium to the milk of dairy goats

In the event of a nuclear accident the radiation dose to human populations arising from radiostrontium ingested as contaminated milk is a major cause of concern. We report a study to determine if calcium alginate incorporated into the diet can be used as an effective countermeasure to reduce radiostrontium transfer to the milk of dairy goats. When Ca-alginate was included into a pelleted ration at 5% dry weight the transfer of radiostrontium to the milk of the goats was reduced by approximately 50%. No effects on diet palatability or the absorption of iron or calcium were observed. Ca-alginate was readily fermentable and hence its potential binding capacity is likely to be reduced in ruminants compared to monogastrics. The Ca-alginate also supplied additional calcium to the diet in an amount which may explain the observed reduction in radiostrontium transfer to milk. Therefore, currently, we cannot be certain if the effect we observed was due to alginate or calcium.