Transfer of 137Cs into mother's milk

The concern of nursing mothers about the contamination of foodstuffs after Chernobyl prompted this investigation of radiocaesium transfer to mother's milk. Between May 1987 and December 1988, duplicates of daily food intakes, as well as the corresponding mothers' milk samples, were collected from 12 nursing mothers for two to four weeks in order to measure the 137Cs activity. Once during the collection period, the total-body activity of each of the mothers involved was measured. Based on our results, 137Cs is transferred into mother's milk not only directly from food intake but also from the accumulated body burden. Approximately 19% of the 137Cs activity from the daily food intake and about 13% of the specific 137Cs body activity of the mother are transferred into 1 litre of mother's milk. (author)