- Long-Term Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability Strategy ›
- Clean the Past ›
- Control the Present ›
- Introduction
- Something in the Air? ›
- Protections: Sediment ›
- Protections: Sediment Control = Contaminant Retention
- Tour: Sediment Retention
- Protection #2: Trap and Remove Sediment
- Stormwater Controls
- Stop Contaminant Movement & the Individual Permit
- View of Stormwater Monitoring Sites
- Stormwater Control Structures
- How are the aftereffects of wildfire managed?
- Las Conchas Wildfire
- Stormwater Controls after Wildfire
- Los Alamos Canyon Weir
- 10,000 Willows
- Pueblo Canyon Grade Control Structure
- Early Notification Gages
- Protections: Sampling ›
- Protection #3: Sample and Survey
- Tour: Environmental Monitoring
- Groundwater Monitoring
- How does LANL determine where to put a monitoring well?
- Protection of the Groundwater Resource
- The Location Investigation Process
- The Location Determination Process
- Monitoring Well Placement
- Contaminant Sources
- Groundwater Monitoring Network
- View of Groundwater Monitoring Sites
- Well Placement Decision Process
- Create a Sustainable Future ›
- Multimedia ›
What are "pathways"?
A "pathway" is a way that the material can get into the body; for example, breathing air, drinking water, eating food. A pathway may involve several steps:
2010 Radiation Sources around LANL: The average radiation exposure for an individual from all sources was estimated at 792 mrem. One-tenth of one percent can be attributed to LANL sources.
- For the direct exposure pathway, radiation directly penetrates the body.
- For the airborne pathway, a material is inhaled directly into the lungs and then moves into the bloodstream.
- For the ingestion pathway, several different possibilities:
- An animal drinks surface water, and then a human eats the animal.
- Crops are irrigated with surface water, and then a human eats the crops.
- A contaminant gets into the aquifer, the aquifer supplies the public drinking water system, and the water is consumed.
- A contaminant gets into the aquifer, the aquifer supplies a natural spring, and the spring water is consumed.
A pathway may be interrupted or incomplete. For example, water from the aquifer is treated before it reaches the public drinking water system.