Analysis of farmed salmon for technetium-99 and other radionuclides (Number 39/03)

The Food Standards Agency, in conjunction with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has carried out a survey to determine the concentration of technetium-99 (Tc-99) and other radionuclides in farmed salmon from Scotland and Northern Ireland. The results are compared to radionuclide concentrations in a range of wild fish species sampled during routine surveys in Scottish and Northern Irish coastal waters.

The results from this survey show that the levels of radioactivity in farmed salmon are similar to those in wild fish and consumption of these fish pose no threat to the health of consumers.

This survey was undertaken to investigate whether significant concentrations of Tc-99 and other radionuclides originating from authorised discharges from Sellafield are present in farmed salmon from the Scottish and Northern Ireland coasts.

Technetium-99 is released during the reprocessing of Magnox fuel and is discharged within the terms of an authorisation granted by the Environment Agency, from the Sellafield reprocessing plant in Cumbria.

The prevailing sea currents transport the technetium through the northern Irish Sea up the west coast of Scotland into the North Sea. Routine monitoring by the Environment Agency, SEPA and the FSA has detected technetium-99 in sediments and marine biota with particularly high levels in lobsters.

These results are published in the annual Radioactivity in Food and the Environment (RIFE) report.