Determination of radioactive contamination level in Korean foodstuffs

This study was performed from July 1974 till May 1978 to observe the Sr-90 concentration in Korean foodstuffs which were grown in Central district, Honam district, Youngnam district and several islands districts: Ulnung I., Hucksan I. and Jeju I. The contamination levels in rice, barley, cultivated vegetables and wild edible vegetables in Korea were studied. The results obtained were as follows: in radiochemical determination of Sr-90 in rice and barley samples in 1977, it was estimated between 14,7+-7,3 and 58,1+-20,9 pCi/g Ca, and 15,7+-3,5 and 90,9+-41,8 pCi/g Ca, respectively. The average values of the rice samples and the barley samples were 34,2+-18,8 pCi/g Ca and 52,5+-30,8 pCi/g Ca. The Sr-90 concentration in the cultivated vegetable samples was 130,9+-2,1 pCi/g Ca and in the wild edible vegetable samples 221,6+-2,2 pCi/g Ca. The contamination levels in the various parts of the plants were as follows: 153,4+-2,0 in leaf, 310,2+-3,3 in root and 131,4+-3,8 pCi/g Ca in fruit. (author)