Sustainability and Social Justice

Native American Exposure to 131 Iodine from Nuclear Weapons Testing in Nevada

Document Type

Article

Abstract

A great deal of work has been done to reconstruct doses from Nevada Test Site fallout, yet the unique exposures of Native American communities continue to be neglected. It is possible to estimate the exposures of these communities through a process of collaborative information gathering and analysis. This article builds on a previous exercise that demonstrated the substantial doses received through the consumption of contaminated game. The updated model includes new information on the deposition of 131iodine, an assessment of the neonatal thyroid doses received through breast milk, an exploration of the effect of population mobility on dose estimates, and estimates of thyroid cancer risk. All thyroid dose estimates from the rabbit exposure pathway are comparable in magnitude to National Cancer Institute comprehensive dose estimates that assume exposure to contaminated milk from backyard cows and goats. Dose estimates from the rabbit exposure pathway are larger than estimated doses from store-bought milk by an average factor of six. Taking historical population mobility patterns into account may result in slightly lower estimates of dose. The quantification of this exposure pathway is considered be an advance toward a more appropriate dose reconstruction for communities with diets high in wild game. © Taylor & Francis Inc.

Publication Title

Human and Ecological Risk Assessment

Publication Date

10-1-2005

Volume

11

Issue

5

First Page

1047

Last Page

1063

ISSN

1080-7039

DOI

10.1080/10807030500257721

Keywords

dose reconstruction, Native American, nuclear weapons testing, radiation, thyroid cancer

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