INAA as tool for environment biomonitoring

The k0 parametric technique of Neutron Activation was used to determine elements in sediment, soil, forage, cattle feces and milk samples collected in a cattle breeding and agricultural zone in Curvelo city, Minas Gerais state, in Brazil. The samples were collected on the farms close to the banks of the Das Velhas River where there is periodic flood during reasonable rains. Clinic veterinary studies have shown that most animals raised in this region are affected by symptomatologic nervous diseases, still not clearly diagnosed, that suggest intoxication. These pathologies are mostly registered after floods. In this paper, the elements As, Cr, Co and Zn, among others were analyzed. The results obtained in different samples of cattle urine and milk as well as in forage samples suggest that there is an influence of metals that are carried by the Das Velhas River basin upstream water. (author)