Spring Precipitation and the Strontium-90 Contamination of Wheat in the Semi-arid Regions of Idaho and Montana

Abstract

STRONTIUM-90 is one of the long-lived radionuclide constituents of fall-out that can be expected as a contaminant of cereal grains for long periods of time. Much of the strontium-90 content of wheat grain is believed to result from direct floral interception rather than to uptake from previously contaminated soils^1,2. It has also been reported that over extended time periods soils experiencing greater annual precipitation accumulated more strontium-90 than did soils of drier regions³. From these premises it would seem that wheat growing in regions experiencing marked spring precipitation should exhibit higher strontium-90 contents than wheat grown in regions with relatively weak spring precipitation. An inspection of precipitational data and a knowledge of the spring floral development of wheat suggest that wheat grown in eastern Montana might yeild a higher strontium-90 content that Idaho grown wheat (Fig. 1).