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Level of natural radionuclides in foodstuffs and resultant annual ingestion radiation dose

ADVANCED NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTATION AND DETECTION

Level of natural radionuclides in foodstuffs and resultant annual ingestion radiation dose

A. ABBADY
Nuclear Science and TechniquesVol.17, No.5pp.297-300Published in print 20 Oct 2006
38000

The natural radioactivities in three major groups of foodstuff widely consumed in Upper Egypt were determined. The specific activities of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in cereals, leguminosae, and flour were measured using γ-ray spectroscopy. Another group of hay, water, and soil samples from the same location were also analyzed. Hay samples were found to contain the highest radioactivity concentration among all the samples that were investigated. This increment could be due to the high water content in the shoots which tends to accumulate soluble radionuclides. The average calculated concentrations of soil samples in the present study exhibits the lowest values with respect to those from different countries. In the case of water samples, the average activities of both 232Th and 40K were similar to those for soil while 226Ra was twice that of water sample. The annual ingestion dose from each radionuclide was calculated. The computed annual dose owing to daily intake of radium, thorium, and potassium via wheat flour, lentils, and bean in the present study (214.8 µSv) is ten times lower than the global average annual radiation dose (2400 µSv) from the natural radiation sources as proposed by UNSCEAR. The obtained results show that the dose values are quite low and carry insignificant radiation dose to the public.

RadioactivitySoilWaterFoodstuffsAnnual dose
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