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The Entry of Fission Products into Food Chains
Author(s) -
Menzel Ronald G.
Publication year - 1962
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1962.00021962005400030042x
Subject(s) - food chain , agronomy , fission , chemistry , environmental science , biology , physics , ecology , nuclear physics , neutron
This hard-bound volume is a collection of reports on the biological studies made with fission product s from atomic weapons trials held in Australia in October 1956. A paper-boun d edition was published by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority in May 1959 as Report No. T 57/58 of the Atomic Weapons Researc h Establishment . The present volume is unchange d except for the addition of two short reports on studies with fission products from a megaton weapon fired at Christmas Island in 1957. The studies include measuremen t of the retention of fallout on grass and legume vegetation, distribution of individual fission products in rabbits, sheep, and dairy cattle, and excretion of fission product s in cow's milk. Calculations of radiation dosage from absorbed nuclides to gut, thyroid, and skeleton are illustrated. The reports are not well coordinated and the book would have gained much in readabilit y from a more detailed introduction and more rigorous editing to eliminate repetitious material from the individual reports. The individual reports give original data and adequat e description of the methods used. These reports are valuabl e source material for specialist s concerned with biological effects of radioactive fallout.—RONALD G. MENZEL, SWCRD, ARD, USDA, Beltsville, Md.