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Calves contain more radiation than their mothers

A study published in the journal PLOS ONE found that approximately 79 cattle that contained trace amounts of radioactive cesium, silver and tellurium. The radioactive material concentrations were 1.5 times higher in fetuses and calves than in their mothers. The heaviest concentrations of radiation were in the calves’ muscles.

“Calves are known to have excellent metabolism, but it was a surprise to learn that radiation could accumulate so easily,” Tohoku University Prof. Manabu Fukumoto, a contributing author of the study, said to sources. “We have to pinpoint the cause.”

The amount of radiation the cattle were exposed to depended on what and where they ate. Some cattle were fortunate enough to be kept in a pen and fed grass that had not been contaminated by the radiation. Predictably, the researchers found that cattle in the pen were less radioactive than cattle that grazed freely around the nuclear power plant.

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