Assessment of dose due to natural radio-nuclides in vegetables of high background radiation area in south-eastern part of Bangladesh

The aims of the study are to determine the radioactivity concentrations of [226]Ra, [238]U, [232]Th and [40]K in vegetables of a recently found high background radiation area of south-eastern part of Bangladesh and to detect the radiological risks to human from intake of these vegetables. 10 plant samples were collected randomly from different locations of the study area. The radio-nuclides in papaya were measured by direct gamma-ray spectrometry using HPGe detector. The average activity concentrations of [226]Ra, [238]U, 232Th and [40]K in papaya samples were 80.95 +/- 13.61, 64.77 +/- 38.47, 83.53 +/- 20.50 and 1691.45 +/- 244.98 Bq kg[-1] respectively. The annual effective ingestion dose due to intake of papaya was 1.1 mSv Y[-1]. The concentrations of radio-nuclides in the papaya samples found in present study were higher than the world average values suggested by the UNSCEAR. The annual effective ingestion dose was found 3.8 times higher than total exposure per person resulting from the ingestion of terrestrial radioisotopes

Measurement of [226]Ra, [232]Th, [137]Cs and [40]K activities of wheat and corn products in Ilam province - Iran and resultant annual ingestion radiation dose

Natural background radiation is the main source of human exposure to radioactive material. Soils naturally have radioactive mineral contents. The aim of this study is to determine natural [[238] U, [232] Th, [40] K] and artificial [[137] Cs] radioactivity levels in wheat and corn fields of Eilam province. HPGe detector was used to measure the concentration activity of [238]U and [232]Th, [40] K and [137] Cs in wheat and corn samples taken from different regions of Eilam province, in Iran. In wheat and corn samples, the average activity concentrations of [226] Ra, [232] Th, [40]K and [137] Cs were found to be 1,67, 0.5, 91.73, 0.01 and 0.81, 0.85, 101.52, 0.07Bp/ kg [dry weight], respectively. H[ex] and H[in] in the present work are lower than 1. The average value of H[ex] was found to be 0.02 and 0.025 and average value of H[in] to be found 0.025 and 0.027 in wheat fields samples and corn samples in Eilam provinces, respectively. The obtained values of AGDE are 30.49 mSv/ yr for wheat filed samples and 37.89 mSv/ yr for corn samples; the AEDE rate values are 5.28 mSv/yr in wheat filed samples and this average value was found to be 6.13 mSv/yr in corn samples in Eilam. Transfer factors [TFs] of long lived radionuclide such as [137]Cs, [226]Ra, [232] Th and [40]K from soils to corn and wheat plants have been studied by radiotracer experiments. The natural radioactivity levels in Eilam province are not at the range of high risk of morbidity and are under international standards

Activity concentrations of [232]Th, [226]Ra and [40]K and gamma radiation absorbed dose rate levels in farm soil for the production of different brands of cigarette tobacco smoked in Nigeria

Presently, the British-American Tobacco Company [BAT] located in Ibadan, Oyo State is the only tobacco producing company in Nigeria accounting for about nine different brands of cigarette tobacco smoked in the country. The tobacco leaves are produced from some farmlands located in Oke-Ogun area of Ibadan where special fertilizers are used for the growing of the tobacco leaves. The use of this fertilizer may enhance natural radionuclide contents in the farm soils and through root uptake be accumulated in the leaves. In this study, soil samples from three farmlands used for the production of the tobacco leaves were collected in order to determine the activity concentrations of [226]Ra, [232]Th and [40]K in the farm soil. Measurements for the determination of the activity concentrations were carried out using gamma-ray spectrometry comprising a lead-shielded 76 mm _ 76 mm NaI[Tl] detector crystal [Model 802 series, Bicron Nal] coupled to a Canberra series 10 plus multichannel analyzer [MCA] [model 1104] through an preamplifier base. Results of measurements showed that the average activity concentrations of the natural radionuclides in the soil samples across the three farms varied from 2550.4 +/- 154.6 to 3208.9 +/- 188.7 Bq kg[-1] for [40]K, 33.1 +/- 11.9 to 39.9 +/- 9.3 Bq kg[-1] for [226]Ra, while for [232]Th it varied between 51.98 +/- 8.4 and 56.08 +/- 17.51 Bq kg[-1]. The activity concentrations of these radionuclides and gamma absorbed dose rates due to the concentration of these radionuclides were found to be higher than world average values while those of the control farm values were lower to world averages and the tobacco leaf farms. From the results obtained the fertilizer type used on the farmlands for the tobacco leaf production was very rich in [40]K with typical values greater 2000 Bq kg-[1]. Also there may be possible high signatures of [210]Pb and [210]Po in the tobacco leaves and the cigarette samples smoked in the country. This is a subject for future research consideration given the fact that alpha radiation plays a major role in the etiology of lung cancer

radio nuclides in piping drinking water, cultivated soil and consumed food material from Zahedan city

The ionizing radiation can affect the human health and the life of other organizes living things in short time, especially when the dose of radiation exceed the ICRP standard. The amount and type of radioactive matter were not known in water, soil and food products of Zahedan. Therefore this study was aimed to survey the safety of such materials for the human being. Five different places in Zahedan city were chosen for sampling from water, soil and food materials and concentration and type of radionuclide were determined. Sieving, drying and mix Turing were amongst the method utilized for suitable preparation of the materials. The results show no existence of any artificial radio nuclides. However there were some natural radionuclides such as K-40, U238, Th232 and Ra226 in different dosages in the examined samples. The study confirmed that there is no risk of radio nuclides exposure with regard to the soil, water and food materials in Zahedan