After the sudden release of radioactivity from the Chernobyl
nuclear reactor accident in 1986, the
radioactivity of milk in Poland rose to 2 000 Bq/L due to
iodine-131 present in the grass eaten by dairy
cattle. Radioactive iodine, with half-life 8.04 days, is
particularly hazardous, because the thyroid gland
concentrates iodine. The Chernobyl accident caused a measurable
increase in thyroid cancers among
children in Belarus. For comparison, find the activity of milk
due to potassium. Assume that one liter of
milk contains 1.50 g of potassium, of which 0.0120% is the
isotope 40K with a half-life 1.28 Ă—
109 yr (1 yr ~ 3.156 Ă— 107 s).