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RECORD NUMBER: 50 OF 115

Main Title Food habits and radionuclide tissue concentrations of Nevada desert bighorn sheep 1972-1973 /
Author Brown, K. W. ; Smith, D. D. ; Bernhardt, D. E. ; Giles, K. R. ; Helvie., J. B.
CORP Author Environmental Protection Agency, Las Vegas, Nev.;Energy Research and Development Administration.
Publisher The Division,
Year Published 1976
Report Number EMSL-LV-539-6; AT(26-1)-539
Stock Number EMSL-LV-539-6
OCLC Number 25752641
Subjects Bighorn sheep--Nutritional aspects ; Radioactive tracers in animal nutrition
Additional Subjects Bone tissues ; Food ; Grass ; Kidneys ; Liver ; Lungs ; Plants ; Potassium 40 ; Radioisotopes ; Sheep ; Stomach ; Strontium 90 ; Tissues ; Tritium ; Uranium ; Cattle ; Contamination ; Nevada ; Radiation doses ; Radiation monitoring ; Radioecological concentration ; Ruminants ; Tissue distribution ; ERDA/560172 ; ERDA/510300 ; Food habits ; Ovis canadensis
Internet Access
Description Access URL
https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi?Dockey=910050RQ.PDF
Holdings
Library Call Number Additional Info Location Last
Modified
Checkout
Status
EJBD  EPA EMSL-LV-539-6 Headquarters Library/Washington,DC 05/31/2018
ELBD ARCHIVE EPA EMSL-LV-539-6 Received from HQ AWBERC Library/Cincinnati,OH 10/04/2023
NTIS  EMSL-LV-539-6 Some EPA libraries have a fiche copy filed under the call number shown. 07/26/2022
Collation 26 unnumbered pages : illustrations, charts, tables ; 28 cm
Abstract
The botanical composition of the diet and radionuclide content of selected tissues of desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) collected during the 1972 and 1973 hunting seasons were determined by analyzing rumen contents, and lung, liver, kidney, and bone tissues. Botanical examination of the rumen contents showed that grass exceeded 50 percent of the diet of 10 to 14 animals collected in 1972 and 12 of 18 animals collected in 1973. Desert needlegrass (Stipa speciosa), Indian rice grass (Oryzopsis hymenoides), and squirrel tail (Sitanion hystrix) were the major grasses utilized. The dominant shrub species consumed included the joint firs (Ephedra viridis) and (Ephedra nevadensis), Mohave yucca (Yucca schidigera), and cliff rose (Cowania mexicana). With the exception of potassium-40, gamma-emitting radionuclides were not detected in desert bighorn sheep tissue. The tritium levels reported were within environmental levels. Strontium-90 levels averaged 4.9 and 4.1 pCi/gram of bone ash for 1972 and 1973, respectively, continuing the downward trend observed in recent years. Uranium levels were similar to those reported from cattle grazing the same general geographic areas. The daily consumption for one year of 500 grams of liver containing the highest levels of plutonium and uranium would result in a dose to the human bone, the tissue expected to receive the highest dose, of approximately 1 mrem/year. This is less than 1% of the radiation protection guides for the general population. (ERA citation 01:026649)
Notes
This study performed under a Memorandum of Understanding No. AT(26-1)--539 for the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration. "Literature cited: " p. 13-15 "EMSL-LV-539-6." "June 1976." Cover title.