Strontium-90 concentration measurements in human bones and teeth in Greece

Strontium-90 concentration was measured in human bones and teeth collected in Greece during the period 1992-1996. One hundred and five bone samples, mainly cancellous bone, and 108 samples, taken from a total of 896 individual teeth were processed. Samples were classified according to the age and sex of the donors. Samples were chemically pre-treated according to a specially devised method to enable extraction of 90Y, at equilibrium with 90Sr in the original sample. Subsequently, 90Y beta activity was measured with a gas proportional counter. Radiostrontium concentration in bone samples showed small variations with respect to age or sex, with an average value of 30 mBq 90Sr/g Ca. However, 90Sr concentration measurements in teeth demonstrated a pronounced structure, which clearly reflects contamination from the 1960s atmospheric nuclear weapons tests and the more recent Chernobyl accident. This difference is attributed to the different histological structure of skeletal bones and teeth, the later consisting mainly of compact bone. An age-dependent model for radiostrontium concentration in human bones and teeth is developed which is able to successfully reproduce the experimental data. Through a fitting process, the model also yielded calcium turnover rates for compact bone, as a function of age, as well as an estimate of radiostrontium contamination of foodstuffs in Greece for the past four decades. The results obtained in this study indicate that radiostrontium environmental contamination which resulted from the atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the 1960s, exceed by far that caused by the Chernobyl accident.