Radioecological Investigations of Plutonium in an Arctic Marine Environment

Abstract

Samples of the human food chain at Thule, Greenland, were collected during the summer of 1968, after the nuclear weapon incident in January. As was to be expected from the increased plutonium levels in bottom sediments, the highest animal levels were found in bivalves, crustacea, polychaeta, and echinodermata. The levels in these bottom animals were on the average two orders of magnitude as high as the fall-out background, in a few cases four orders of magnitude. Fish from the bottom water also showed an increased plutonium content whereas sea weed, plankton, sea birds, seals, and walruses did not differ significantly from the fall-out background. The plutonium concentration in sea water was twice the fall-out background. No samples displayed plutonium levels that were considered hazardous to man or higher animals in the Thule district or in any other part of Greenland.