Effective and ecological half-lives of 137Cs in cow's milk in alpine agriculture

In the mountainous "Hohe Tauern" region of Salzburg (Austria), milk samples have been collected in a long-term montitoring programme since 1988, at eight alpine sites used for extensive, seasonal stock farming. For this alpine environment with its acidic soils developed on silicate bedrock, high soil-to-plant transfer factors and long-lasting (137)Cs contamination levels in milk--the main product of seasonal agriculture at elevated altitudes--are characteristic features. The decrease in (137)Cs concentration in milk measured since 1988 turned out to be best described by one or two effective half-lives. For the period from 1993 to 2007, which can be modelled with one effective half-life for all sites, effective half-lives between 3.7 and 15.0 years (ecological half-lives: 4.3-29.9 years) were obtained. The effective half-life increases with mean altitude of the investigated graze pastures, probably due to reduced migration velocities of (137)Cs and low (137)Cs half-value depths of a few centimetres in the soil.