Food Standards Agency
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Listen to this siteFriday 8 October 2004
This research project is being undertaken to produce a comprehensive review of the available literature on the bio-kinetics of radionuclides in animals.
Study Duration : January 2002 to October 2004
The Food Standards Agency needs to be able to assess the dose to consumers of locally produced food as a result of discharges of radioactive material into the environment. To do this the Agency has a suite of models to calculate the radioactivity concentrations in meat and animal products. The models used to describe the behaviour of radionuclides in animals date back to the early 1980's. Subsequent work means that these models may require updating. This project will review that new knowledge to enable the FSA to improve the quality of models used.
A review will be carried out of the literature published since the early 1980's on the behaviour of radionuclides in animals. This information will be used to propose conceptual models for the transfer of radioactivity into meat and other animal products. Emphasis will be given to those radionuclides that are discharged from nuclear sites in the UK.
The Food Standards Agency needs to be able to predict the radiation doses received by consumers from releases of radioactivity into the environment. To help the Agency do this, a thorough review of the literature on how radioactivity eaten by animals is transferred to meat, milk and eggs was carried out. The information from this review was used to develop models that allow these transfers and the amount of radioactivity in meat and animal products to be calculated. The work included those radioactive elements that are discharged from nuclear sites in the UK in routine operations and those most likely to released following an accident. The Agency will incorporate these models into computers tools currently being developed which will enable the Agency to make predictions of the radioactivity concentrations in these foods. These predictions will include estimates of the uncertainty in the concentrations.
The new models will enable the Agency to better perform its role of ensuring that authorised discharges of radioactive material into the environment do not present an unacceptable risk to consumers of foods produced close to the sites. They will also enhance the Agency�s response to emergencies involving the release of radioactivity into the environment.
The final report is available from the FSA Library and Information centre.
To obtain a copy, please contact the Enquiry Desk, Dr Elsie Widdowson Library and Information Services, Food Standards Agency ( tel: 020 7276 8181/8182 or email:
library&info@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
)
Contact
:
Email
: science@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
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