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The aim of this activity is to obtain information on the status of various radionuclides in meadow and pasture land and in grassland plants in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Island.
The food chains that will be studied are:
1. Soil → grass (soil/fodder) (→ cow) → milk or
2. Soil → grass (soil/fodder) (→ lamb) → milk
The radionuclides in which we are interested are those originating from natural uranium and thorium series and cesium-137 and potassium-40.
Transfer of natural radionuclides to grazing cattle and sheep and onwards into milk and meat food products is of interest in the Nordic countries and internationally. We currently have little knowledge of the amounts of these radionuclides present in our food chains coming from meadow and pasture land.
The number of sampling sites will be limited to 3–4 in each country. At each site in the respective Nordic country, soil samples will be taken to a depth of approx. 15-20 cm and samples of plant material on an area up to 4 m2. Different grass species and soil types will be studied on the different sites. It should if possible include 3 different soils type from each country, a sandy soil, an organic soil and a clay soil. Milk samples will be collected if there are grazing animals in the same location as the soil and grass will be sampled. The sampling period should be in the middle of the growing season June - July 2010.
End-users are the national Board of Agriculture and Nuclear/Radiation Safety Authority in the different Nordic countries.
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NKS-B 