2nd animal experiment to determine radioactivity in milk and meat (winter feed)

High levels of the cesium isotopes 137 and 134, which were released by the Chernobyl reactor accident, are above all present in southern Germany in feeds for the winter of 1986/87. There are two possible pathways of how the fodder was contaminated: by deposition of radioactive material on the exposed parts of the plant and by uptake of radioactive material from the soil via the roots. The following questions were to be elucidated by the experiment: 1. Appraisal of the probable radioactive contamination of milk and meat, given the exclusive use of stored fodder from the first growth; 2. Determination of transfer factors and transfer rates for milk and meat; 3. Determination of the variation range for animal reactions to the use of contaminated fodder; 4. Drawing up of recommendations for feeding. For this purpose, eight cows were divided into two groups. One group fed on hay from the first growth as a sole basic feed, the other on silage fodder consisting of a mixture of hay and grass from the first growth (mixing ratio 40 to 60). The animals were fed individually, the feed being offered twice a day. The following parameters were recorded: quantity of milk (daily in kilogrammes), quantity of cesium in milk (every second day, Bq/kilogramme), silage grass fodder (10 samples, Bq/kilogramme), hay (10 samples and one control each week during the experiment, Bq/kilogramme), meat (from one cow out of each group, Bq/kilogramme). (orig./MG)