Screening Methods for Monitoring the Radionuclides Contamination in Biological Materials and Live Animals

The presence of areas contaminated by anthropogenic radionuclides, such as 137Cs, requires the prompt analysis of a large number of samples. A sanitary intervention, together with traditional surveillance systems, are fundamental to detect and interrupt the transmission of radionuclides into the food chain throughout either the direct human consumption of contaminated vegetables or the indirect human intake through the animal feeding. Moreover, an increase in the radioisotopes bioavailability is likely to be observed over one or two links in the food chain.

To prompt and simplify the analysis process, the authors propose an initial preliminary radioactivity measurement by using either screening methods on the cow milk, such as the Liquid Scintilation (LSC), or radio-chemical gamma counters on muscles, blood cells or other animal tissues. The choice of cow milk as main indicator is justified by its simplicity in being sampled and analized, as well as by the widespread distribution of dairy herds (i.e. sheep, goats and cattle) over the territory in light of a better veterinary supervision on food of animal origin.