Estimation of annual effctive dose from 226Ra and due to consumption of foodstuffs by inhabitants of Ramsar 228Ra city, Iran

[226]Ra and [228]Ra contents in foodstuffs of Ramsar which is a coastal city in the northern part of Iran were determined by gamma spectrometry. Measurement results together with food consumption rates were used to estimate annual effective dose from [226]Ra and [228]Ra, due to consumption of food stuffs by inhabitants of Ramsar city. A total of 33 samples from 11 different foodstuffs including root vegetables [beetroot], leafy vegetables [lettuce, parsley and spinach] and tea, meat, chicken, pea, broad bean, rice, and cheese were purchased from markets of Ramsar city and were analyzed for their [226]Ra and [228]Ra concentration. 1-8 kg of fresh weight sample was placed in Marinnelli beaker and sealed. The measurement of natural radioactivity levels as performed by gamma-spectrometry system, using a high purity germanium [HPGe] detector with 40% relative efficiency. The highest concentrations of [226]Ra and [228] Ra were determined in tea samples with 1570 and 1140 mBq/kg, respectively, and the lowest concentration of [226]Ra was in pea, cheese, chicken, broad bean, and beetroot.The maximum estimated annual effective dose from [226]Ra and [226]Ra due to consumption of foodstuffs were determined to be 19.22 and 0.71 microSv from rice and meat samples respectively, where as, the minimum estimated annual effective dose for [226]Ra was 0.017, 0.018 and 0.019 microSv from beetroot, cheese and pea samples respectively

Determination of [226] Ra and [228] Ra concentrations in foodstuffs consumed by inhabitants of Tehran city of Iran

The presence of primordial radionuclide in human habitats has always been a source of prolonged exposure. Measurement of naturally occurring radionuclides in the environment can be used as baseline to evaluate the impact of non-nuclear activities and also routine releases from nuclear installations. A total of 56 samples from 18 different foodstuff including root vegetables [beetroot, carrot, onion, potato, radish and turnip], leafy vegetables[lettuce, parsley, spinach and white cabbage] and lentil, kidney bean, Soya, eggs, rice, meat, tomato and cooking oil were purchased and analyzed by low level gamma spectrometry. The [226] Ra concentrations from root vegetables varied from 13-62 mBqkg[-1] [fw] with turnip of highest concentration, i.e. 62mBq kg[-1]. Among leafy vegetables; parsley showed the maximum concentration of [228] Ra equal to 173 mBqkg[-1] [fw]. [226] Ra and [228] Ra contents in the soya, 394 and 578 mBq kg[-1] [fw] was much higher than those of other samples respectively. Results indicate that foodstuff consumed by Tehran inhabitants have low radium content and are safe, as far as radium concentrations is concerned