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Radiation hazard to man and animals from fallout in the Arctic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

C. L. Smith
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Extract

The radiation hazards to humans in certain northern regions, and to reindeer, caribou and moose, due to radioactive materials from fallout in their diets, have been discussed recently in numerous publications. The following factors make this problem of particular interest:

i. The peculiarity of lichens to absorb and retain larger quantities of radioactive fallout than other plants. This peculiarity of lichens is exemplified by some measurements of Paakkiola and Miettinen made during 1960 and 1961. They found that the strontium-90 content of lichens in northern Finland varied between 350 and 4500 SU, whereas for grass and other plants from the same area the figures varied between 43 and 273 SU.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 12 , Issue 81 , September 1965 , pp. 709 - 716
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1965

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