ABSTRACT
The sources of radioactivity in the environment have natural, terrestrial and extraterrestrial, and anthropogenic origins. Plants may get radioactive nuclides in two ways: [i] by the deposition of radioactive fallout, [ii] by absorption from the soil. The concentrations of the natural radionuclides [[226]Ra, [228]Ra, [40]K] and the artificial radionuclide [[137]Cs] in leek and parsley in Tehran province-Iran were determined using HPGe. Also the effective dose due to the ingestion of such vegetables by the population of Tehran province was studied. The average value of radionuclide concentrations in parsley samples were measured 177.69 +/- 12.47 mBq kg[-1] fresh for [226]Ra; 349.62 +/- 28.42 mBq kg[-1] fresh for [228]Ra; 187364.6 mBq kg[-1] fresh for [40]K. The average value of radionuclide concentrations in leek samples were measured 94.31 +/- 6.46 mBq kg[-1] fresh for [226]Ra; 207.47 +/- 19.46 mBq kg[-1] fresh for [228]Ra; 174555 +/- 1704.21 mBq kg[-1] fresh for [40]K. The concentrations of [137]Cs in most of Parsley and Leek samples were below the minimum detectable activity [MDA]. The Average [226]Ra and [228]Ra activities in 29 leek and parsley samples were about 2.63 and 6.78 times the reference values, respectively. The annual effective dose resulting from the studied radionuclides for the adult population in Tehran province were found to be safe in comparison with normal background areas