New research suggests Ukrainian villages are still suffering the legacy of Chernobyl more than 30 years on.
Milk in parts of the country has radioactivity levels up to five times over its official safe limit.
Scientists sampled cows' milk from private farms and homes in the Rivne region, about 200km from the site of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant explosion in 1986.
They found levels of radioactive caesium in milk above Ukraine's safe limit for adults of 100 Becquerel per litre (Bq/L) at six of 14 settlements studied, and above the children's limit of 40 Bq/L at eight sites.
The highest levels found were about 500 Bq/L - five times over the limit for adults and more than 12 times that for children.
The study was carried out at the University of Exeter and the Ukrainian Institute of Agricultural Radiology.
"More than 30 years after the Chernobyl disaster, people are still routinely exposed to radioactive caesium when consuming locally-produced staple foods, including milk, in Chernobyl-affected areas of Ukraine," the University of Exeter's Dr Iryna Labunska said.
"Though the level of soil contamination in the studied areas is not extremely high, radioactive caesium continues to accumulate in milk and other foods, such that the residents of these villages are chronically exposed to radioactivity."
The researchers say that some simple protective measures could be taken to bring radiation exposure levels below limits at a cost of less than 10 euro per person per year for the 8,300 people living in the six villages with the highest contamination.
Such measures include applying a caesium binder, called Ferrocyn, to cows, mineral fertilisation of potato fields and feeding pigs with uncontaminated fodder.
The cost of this would decrease each year as radiation levels fall - but if no action is taken, the experts warn milk contamination will continue to exceed the 100 Bq/L adult limit in parts of Ukraine until at least 2040.
