Ingestion intakes of 137Cs by the Czech population: Comparison of different approaches

Ingestion intakes of Cs-137 of the Czech population were calculated in two different ways - either from the measured activity of Cs-137 in components of food in combination with statistical data about consumption rates or from retention of Cs-137 in the human body obtained by whole body counting or calculated from daily urinary excretion of Cs-137. Data from the time period since 1986 to 2015 are used. The daily ingestion intake was about 25 Bq d(-1) in 1986 and is around 0.1 Bq d(-1) at present. Both approaches of ingestion intake calculation have their advantages and disadvantages. Ingestion intake calculated from Cs-137 body content was assumed to be the most accurate as it requires fewer assumptions than the calculation from food consumption. However, calculation of Cs-137 intake from food consumption is an important tool for prediction doses after the release of radionuclides into environment. The best agreement exceeding the intakes from urine measurement 5 times at maximum was achieved when intakes calculated from food also included products from the natural environment. Without this, the ingestion intake could be under-predicted seriously up to 6 times, especially in the longer time after the release of Cs-137 into environment. Ingestion intakes up to 11 Bq d(-1) in a group of people with significant consumption of game meat containing elevated activity of Cs-137 activity were included as a special case. Various groups of foodstuffs had varying effects on the total committed effective dose from 137Cs. Dose estimates for the Czech population from Cs-137 ingestion intake achieved 80 mu Sv in 1986 and not more than 2 mu Sv currently and were similar to those incurred by the population of neighbouring countries. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.