Effective Doses of Ionizing Radiation during Therapeutic Peat Mud Treatment from a Deposit in the Knyszyn Forest (Northeastern Poland).

Radioactivity measurements of 61 therapeutic peat mud samples from the Podsokoldy deposits, near Suprasl, were performed using gamma spectrometry. The authors identified the presence of 13 isotopes with the arithmetic mean of activity (in Bq kg-1): 137Cs-7, 40K-24, 208Tl-1, 212Bi-3, 212Pb-2, 228Ac-2, 210Pb-33, 214Bi-11, 214Pb-11, 226Ra-53, 234Th-47. The effective dose obtained during treatment with 15 peat mud baths (lasting 30 min) was 0.078 µSv. Use of peat mud compresses in the same number and period of exposure to the entire body surface caused absorption of a dose of 0.153 µSv. The authors discuss the probability of tissue radiation from isotopes present in the peat mud. In light of radiobiological knowledge, the therapeutic effect of ionizing radiation during peat mud therapy appears to be very unlikely.

7Be concentration in the near-surface layer of the air in Bialystok (north-eastern Poland) in the years 1992-2010.

Weekly measurements of air 7Be concentrations (n = 769) were performed in the years 1992-2010 in Bialystok (north-eastern Poland) using gamma spectrometry. The arithmetic mean (AM) concentration of 7Be was 2.51 mBq m-3, and the median (M) was 2.24 mBq m-3 (range 0.47-7.81 mBq m-3). The observed 7Be concentrations were within the range of levels recorded in Europe. Typical seasonal variability was observed. Concentrations of 7Be in the warm season (May, June, July) were almost twice as high as those in the cold season (November, December, January). A correlation was found between weekly 7Be concentrations and mean weekly values of relative humidity, temperature, and wind speed throughout the observation period. Pearson's correlation coefficients were -0.63, p < 0.001; 0.477, p < 0.001; -0.288, p < 0.001, respectively. The correlation coefficient between sunspot number and mean annual 7Be concentrations in the air in the years 1992-2010 was -0.609.

Radioactivity of natural medicinal preparations contained extracts from peat mud available in retail trade used externally.

In this work were identified and measured the activity of radioactive isotopes present in medicinal preparations from peat mud and estimated the doses obtained from them during therapy. Radioactivity of 22 preparations from peat mud and 20 water samples from water of the North-East region of Poland was studied. The median of the total activity was 24.8 Bq kg-1. Total maximal isotope activity was observed in the Iwonicka Cube 146 Bq kg-1 while considerable amounts of isotopes were found in the Kolobrzeska Peat Mud Paste 112 Bq kg-1. The doses obtained during therapy were within the range of 11 nSv-13 µSv depending on extracts of medicinal preparations from peat mud. The probability that such a small dose would stimulate biological effects is low. However, some clinicians believe that one of the possible therapeutic mechanisms in the treatment of rheumatoid disorders is the induction of immune response by ionising radiation.

Radioactivity of peat mud used in therapy.

The aim of the study was to determine the contents of natural and artificial isotopes in peat mud and to estimate the radiation dose absorbed via skin in patients during standard peat mud treatment. The analysis included 37 samples collected from 8 spas in Poland. The measurements of isotope concentration activity were conducted with the use of gamma spectrometry methods. The skin dose in a standard peat mud bath therapy is approximately 300 nSv. The effective dose of such therapy is considered to be 22 nSv. The doses absorbed during peat mud therapy are 5 orders of magnitude lower than effective annual dose absorbed from the natural radiation background by a statistical Pole (3.5 mSv). Neither therapeutic nor harmful effect is probable in case of such a small dose of ionising radiation.

Time-dependence of ¹³7Cs activity concentration in wild game meat in Knyszyn Primeval Forest (Poland).

Wild game meat samples were analysed from the region of the Podlasie province (Knyszyn Primeval Forest). (137)Cs content in meat was determined by gamma spectrometry in 2003 (33 samples), 2009 (22 samples) and 2012 (26 samples). The samples were collected in the autumn of 2003, 2009 and 2012 and were compared with data from 1996. Mean concentrations of (137)Cs in the respective years were as follow: 42.2 Bq kg(-1), 33.7 Bq kg(-1) and 30.5 Bq kg(-1), respectively. On the basis of mean values of (137)Cs in the meat samples of red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and wild boars (Sus scrofa) between 1996/2012, the effective half-life of (137)Cs was determined for specific species. For red deer equaled 8.9 years, for roe deer 11.6 years while for wild boar it exceeded the physical half-life and equaled 38.5 years. Mean value CR obtained for all three species equaled 1.7 ± 1.5 out of 102 measurements in animals muscles.