Technical Bulletin No. 0639: Cesium-137 in Industrial Wood Ash: Concentrations, Fate, and Human Health Risks

Attention has recently been directed in scientific meetings and media reports to a report that residential wood ash contains cesium-137 (likely of nuclear weapons testing fallout origin), and the suggestion that although calculated health risks resulting from human exposure to wood ash radioactivity are low, the issue needs further study. NCASI undertook an investigation to (1) review the original paper in which the wood ash radioactivity issue was first presented, (2) measure cesium-137 in samples of industrial wood ash, and (3) calculate human health risks resulting from two possible pathways of exposure to cesium-137 in wood ash, viz.., consumption of vegetables grown on soil amended with industrial wood ash, and exposure to atmospheric radioactivity resulting from release of cesium-137 from wood fired boilers.