Main description:

The Symposium on Radionuclides in the Food Chain, sponsored by the Interna tional Life Sciences Institute in association with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, was intended to bring together policymakers and other representatives of the food industry with radiation experts involved in measuring and assessing radioactivity in foodstuffs. The symposium was made timely by the problems arising from the nuclear reactor accident at Chernobyl, in the USSR, which brought out the lack of international agreement on guidance for responding to such radionuclide contamination of food and foodstuffs. The presentations by the radiation experts covered the sources of radionu clides-natural radioactivity, fallout from nuclear weapons tests, routine releases from nuclear facilities, and various nuclear accidents. The speakers represented a broad distribution in both scientific disciplines and international geographic origin. They summarized the available data on measurements and indicated the current procedures for assessing radiation exposure. It was hoped that the food industry representatives would bring out the problems posed to industry and governments by the presence of radioactivity in food.

Contents:

I. Introduction.- 1. A Post-Chernobyl View.- 2. Structural Problems in Large-Scale Crisis-Management Systems.- 3. Links in the Transmission of Radionuclides Through Food Chains.- II. Fundamental Information.- 4. Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation.- 5. Assessment of Dose From Man-Made Sources.- 6. Naturally Occurring Sources of Radioactive Contamination.- 7. International Recommendations on Radiation Protection.- III. Environmental Pathways Critical to Humans.- 8. Airborne Contamination.- 9. Radionuclides in the Aquatic Environment.- 10. Soil-Borne Radionuclides.- 11. Effect of Local Conditions on Coefficient of Radionuclide Transfer Through Food Chains.- 12. Long-Lived Man-Made Radionuclides in the Soil-Plant System.- IV. Consequences of Radionuclide Release to Health, Safety, and the Environment.- 13. Experience at Windscale-1957.- 14. The Accident at Three Mile Island-1979.- 15. Food-Chain Contamination From Testing Nuclear Devices.- 16. The Removal and/or Reduction of Radionuclides in the Food Chain.- V. Effects of Radionuclides in Food and Water Supplies.- 17. Long-Term Health Effects of Radionuclides in Food and Water Supplies.- 18. Radionuclides and Genetic Risks.- 19. Evaluation Procedures.- VI. Risk Management of Food and Water Supplies.- 20. Procedures on Assessment and Measures of Safety for the Population After the Chernobyl Accident.- 21. Radioactivity in Food: Surveillance Procedures in the United Kingdom.- 22. Methodology for Surveillance of the Food Chain as Conducted by the United States.- 23. Identification and Reliability of Parameters for the Assessment of Derived Intervention Levels for Control of Contaminated Foodstuffs.- 24. Use of Mathematical Models in Risk Assessment and Risk Management.- VII. Development of Guidelines for Safety Evaluation of Food and Water After Nuclear Accidents.- 25. Development of Guidelines for Safety Evaluation of Food and Water After Nuclear Accidents: Procedures in North America.- 26. The Development of WHO's Approach to DILs.- 27. FAO Recommended Limits for Radionuclide Contamination of Food.- 28. Radionuclides in Food: Radiation Protection Considerations.- VIII. Regulatory and Control Programs.- 29. Radionuclides: Regulatory and Control Programs.- 30. Regulation and Control of Radionuclides in Food in a European Socialist Country-Hungary.- 31. Control of Radioactivity in Foodstuffs in the European Economic Community.- 32. Derived Intervention Levels in Food: The Canadian Approach.- 33. Perceived Risks of Radionuclides: Understanding Public Understanding.- IX. Summary.- 34. Radionuclides in the Food Chain.- Glossary Words.