Radiation Dangers at Work! Please Help!!

SK101

Hi Everyone,

I had this question recently put to me by a friend, all names of people and organizations etc will remain anonymous for this post.

The question was:

"Could there be a link between getting Cancer and living near a factory which produces a dairy product?"

It was asked as many of the people living near such a facility have obtained cancer.

I know that there is I-131, Sr-90, Cs-134 and Cs-137 in milk. I-131 is deemed not too harmful as it only has a half life of about 9 days so decays quickly.

But Cs-134/137 have half-lives of roughly 30 years and Sr-90 has a half life of 29 years.

Could the factors of the long half-life and living close to a facility which deals in materials which can be highly concentrated to give a bigger amount of radiation lead to Cancer in residents living near by?


Hope someone can help thanks!

Delancey

I think someone would need a very detailed and specialised knowledge to answer your question accurately .
Have you tried The Radiological Protection Board ?

lonestargirl

SK101 wrote: »

I know that there is I-131, Sr-90, Cs-134 and Cs-137 in milk. I-131 is deemed not too harmful as it only has a half life of about 9 days so decays quickly.

Not found normally in milk. They were the elements dispersed by the Chernobyl reactor explosion and were found in milk in the contaminated area at the time.

smk89

All these isotopes decay by beta radiation, there is no danger unless you are within 1 metre of them and even then. Meh.

Minier81

Practically all food types are sources of a certain amount of radiation. Potassium-40 (K40) is the main source. Usually the amounts are absolutely tiny.

It is very unlikely that there is anything to worry about here.