Environmental radiocesium in Subarctic and Arctic Alaska following Chernobyl

Abstract

Concentrations of 137Cs ranged from below detectable or low levels in whale and fish samples to as high as 242 Bq/kg in lichen. For all potential human food items, the radiocesium concentrations were below permissible levels for human consumption Chernobyl-derived radiocesium concentrations ranged from below detectable or low levels in all arctic samples (soil, sediment, lichen, whale, fish and caribou Rangifer tarandus) to 32 Bq/kg in subarctic moss. Therefore, the distribution and subsequent deposition of Chernobyl-derived radiocesium appears to be variable but decreasing significantly from the Subarctic (Fairbanks) to the Arctic. -from Authors