Long-term monitoring of radioactivity in fish from New York waters.

As part of an environmental surveillance program operated by the New York State (NYS) Department of Health, measurements of various radionuclides in aquatic life (primarily fish) collected from waterways in NYS have occurred for decades. An investigation was undertaken to gain a better understanding of the occurrence, activity levels, and extent of radionuclide variations in aquatic life obtained from local waterways in relation to concentrations reported in fish from sites outside NYS (e.g.

Performance of a commercial radon-in-water measurement kit.

Methods currently approved for the measurement of radon ((222)Rn) in water in New York State are liquid scintillation counting and emanation into alpha-scintillation cells. A passive system using an electret ion chamber (EIC) was evaluated as an alternative for the measurement of radon in water. Over 130 water samples from a community water supply containing 32BqL(-1) and 30 standards containing 686BqL(-1) were measured using the EIC method over 1- to 4-day exposure times.

Long-term monitoring of radioactivity in surface air and deposition in New York State.

Gross-beta activities have been determined weekly for 22 y from filtered atmospheric aerosols at seven sites in New York State. The activities, ranging from 0.1 to 0.

Airborne 131I at a background monitoring site.

As part of an environmental surveillance program, measurements of 131I in samples of atmospheric aerosols were determined in week-long collection periods at 0.3 km and 1.5 km from a municipal-sewage sludge incinerator located in Albany, New York.