Radiochemistry Food and Feed Monitoring and Maintenance

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1 Abstract: 2 The Washington State Public Health Laboratories (WAPHL) Environmental and Radiation 3 Chemistry Group has a long-established and well-regarded radiation testing program with a 4 robust set of instrumentation, including gamma and alpha spectroscopy capabilities. Under a 5 previous FERN grant, this laboratory gained experience with food-specific gamma detector 6 calibrations of varying densities, and greatly improved sample preparation and homogenization 7 methods, in collaboration with other FERN radiation laboratories. 8 Background 9 Food contamination is a serious problem worldwide, affecting 1 person in 10 and killing 420,000 10 each year, according to the WHO.6 11 Problem 12 Contamination events involving radioactive materials is rare enough that there is not enough 13 baseline data on radiological contaminants of dosimetric concern to use for comparison when 14 events do occur. 15 Solutions 16 The Washington State Public Health Laboratories (WAPHL) Environmental and Radiation 17 Chemistry Group has a long-established and well-regarded radiation testing program with a 18 robust set of instrumentation, including gamma and alpha spectroscopy capabilities. Through 19 the work proposed in this project we will leverage the investments made by the Food and Drug 20 Administration (FDA) in assets and expertise, to: (1) perform radiological screening for 21 radionuclides of dosimetric concern, such as gamma emitters, from crops produced in our state; 22 (2) evaluate identification and semi-quantitative data from screening to determine if 23 contamination is present or not, according to regulatory guidance, and determine if further 24 targeted analyses are necessary; (3) participate in FDA-requested surveillance activities or 25 triage exercises; (4) participate in national security events and exercises as available.