scholarly journals Radionuclides Transfer from Soil to Tea Leaves and Estimation of Committed Effective Dose to the Bangladesh Populace

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 282
Author(s):  
Nurul Absar ◽  
Jainal Abedin ◽  
Md. Mashiur Rahman ◽  
Moazzem Hossain Miah ◽  
Naziba Siddique ◽  
...  

Considering the probable health risks due to radioactivity input via drinking tea, the concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th,40K and 137Cs radionuclides in the soil and the corresponding tea leaves of a large tea plantation were measured using high purity germanium (HPGe) γ-ray spectrometry. Different layers of soil and fresh tea leaf samples were collected from the Udalia Tea Estate (UTE) in the Fatickchari area of Chittagong, Bangladesh. The mean concentrations (in Bq/kg) of radionuclides in the studied soil samples were found to be 34 ± 9 to 45 ± 3 for 226Ra, 50 ± 13 to 63 ± 5 for 232Th, 245 ± 30 to 635 ± 35 for 40K and 3 ± 1 to 10 ± 1 for 137Cs, while the respective values in the corresponding tea leaf samples were 3.6 ± 0.7 to 5.7 ± 1.0, 2.4 ± 0.5 to 5.8 ± 0.9, 132 ± 25 to 258 ± 29 and <0.4. The mean transfer factors for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K from soil to tea leaves were calculated to be 0.12, 0.08 and 0.46, respectively, the complete range being 1.1 × 10−2 to 1.0, in accordance with IAEA values. Additionally, the most popularly consumed tea brands available in the Bangladeshi market were also analyzed and, with the exception of 40K, were found to have similar concentrations to the fresh tea leaves collected from the UTE. The committed effective dose via the consumption of tea was estimated to be low in comparison with the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) reference ingestion dose limit of 290 μSv/y. Current indicative tea consumption of 4 g/day/person shows an insignificant radiological risk to public health, while cumulative dietary exposures may not be entirely negligible, because the UNSCEAR reference dose limit is derived from total dietary exposures. This study suggests a periodic monitoring of radiation levels in tea leaves in seeking to ensure the safety of human health.

Author(s):  
C. P. Ononugbo ◽  
O. Azikiwe ◽  
G. O. Avwiri

Radioactivity distribution and transfer factor (TF) in plants are crucial parameters used to assess radioactive contamination in the environment, impact of soil radioactivity on agricultural crops and its risks to humans.  The root crop cassava (Manihot esculenta) provides about 50 percent of the calories consumed in Nigeria. Gamma - ray spectroscopy was used to measure activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in cassava root and soil. The average activity concentration of 40K, 226Ra and 232Th in cassava was 565.31± 13.17, 21.89±5.94 and 817.28±2.52 Bqkg-1 respectively. The mean activity concentration   40K, 226Ra and 232Th in soil range from 92.07±35.08 to 689.28±14.35 Bqkg-1with a mean value of 413.64±21.22 Bqkg-1, 5.37 ± 8.90 to 64.93 ± 7.23 Bqkg-1 with a mean value of 54.43 ± 3.22 and BDL to 928.15 ± 2.36 Bqkg-1 with a mean value of 561.67 ± 2.21 Bqkg-1. The transfer values for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were in the range of 0 to 1.81, 0 to 3.41 and 0.68 to 4.5 respectively. The high value of transfer factor for 40k may be due to its importance in plant growth, fertilization and adaptability of plant to environmental pressures. It may have also been enhanced by the application of NPK fertilizers in those farms. Thorium showed the highest mean transfer factor which may be due to its higher accumulation in soil and higher uptake by plants (Figure 3). The average transfer factors of 226Ra (0.99) < 40K (1.55) < 232Th (1.66) show that although activity concentration of the natural radioisotopes in the area under study are high, the rate at which they are transferred to cassava are still moderate.  The average values of radium equivalent activity (Raeq), absorbed dose rate (D), annual effective dose rate (AEDE), internal hazard index and excess life cancer risk (ELCR) are 1009.27 Bqk-1, 346.50 nGyh-1, 1.51 mSvy-1, 2.78 and 3.92 x 10-3 for respectively. These values were higher than their corresponding permissible values of 370Bqk-1, 55nGyh-1, 1.0 mSvy-1, 1.0 and 0.29 x 10-3 respectively. The mean values of Hex and Hin are greater than unity and may, therefore, constitute a significant radiological health risk. The mean annual gonad dose estimated value of 2943.90 mSvy-1  was above the world acceptable value of 300 mSvy-1 and the annual effective dose in all the samples except in few locations as shown in Figure 2, exceeded the safe value of 1.0 mSvy-1. The use of soil from these farms and the crops may constitute a threat to the bone marrow and general health conditions of the inhabitants.


2014 ◽  
Vol 955-959 ◽  
pp. 541-547
Author(s):  
Xin Kai Zhang ◽  
Ze Qin Li ◽  
Xiao Ming Liu

Se concentration varies for different soil types, whether can be absorbed by plants is not related with the total amount of selenium, it is controlled by the bio-availability Se in soil. This paper is aim to look for the laws of the bio-availability Se in different soils, and find out an accuracy and effective method to extract the bio-available Se from different soil types. Digest the soil and tea leaves samples and used six methods (KH2PO4, NaHCO3, HAC, MgCl2, HCl, EDTA) to extract Se from the different soils, the result was measured by AFS. The mean values of total Se is 8.45μg/g in carbonaceous slates soil, 0.32μg/g and 0.41μg/g in malmstone soil, 0.78μg/g in shale soil. The maximum correlation coefficients (r) between the six extract methods and tea leaves about the extraction ratio of Se in four soils is 0.93188 with KH2PO4, 0.77097 and 0.83589 with NaHCO3, 0.84231 with HAC. So it can be indicate that the total Se contents is carbonaceous slates soil>shale soil>malmstone soil, the best extract method for carbonaceous slates soil, malmstone soil and shale soil are KH2PO4, NaHCO3, and HAC respectively.


Author(s):  
A. Ibitola, Gilbert ◽  
Ajanaku Olanrewaju ◽  
Ilori, Abiola Olawale ◽  
R. O. Aremu ◽  
I. A. A. Omosebi

The aim of this present study is to collect soil samples and some commonly consumed food materials in Ondo State, Nigeria such as tubers (cassava, Manihot esculent and yam, Dioscorea alata) samples and vegetables (waterleaf, Talinium triangulare and bitter leaf, Vernonia amygdalina) samples at some selected locations in Okitipupa, Ondo state, Southwestern, Nigeria in order to determine the following natural radionuclides (40K, 238U and 232Th) levels using a well calibrated NaI(TI) which is well shielded with a detector coupled to a computer resident quantum MCA2100R Multichannel. The transfer factors, annual absorbed dose rate and the annual effective dose in the samples collected were estimated. The results showed that the measured natural radionuclides were present in the mean concentrations of 323.79 ± 12.45 Bqkg-1, 81.87 ± 45.30 Bqkg-1 and 57.62 ± 18.04 Bqkg-1 for 40K; 11.76 ± 36.03 Bqkg-1, 4.67 ± 10.12 Bqkg-1 and 3.45 ± 2.10 Bqkg-1 for 238U and 9.66 ± 0.89 Bqkg-1, 3.07 ± 2.45 Bqkg-1  and 2.45 ± 0.92 Bqkg-1  for 232Th for soil, yam and cassava samples respectively. The results also showed that the radionuclides were present in the concentrations of 11.76 ± 36.03 Bqkg-1 and 9.66 ± 0.89 Bqkg-1 for 40K; 9.67 ± 8.53 Bqkg-1 and 7.87 ± 1.89 Bqkg-1 for 238U and 8.63 ± 6.08 Bqkg-1 and 6.58 ± 0.76 Bqkg-1 for 232Th for waterleaf and bitter leaf samples respectively. The soil-to-yam transfer factors were found to be 0.26, 0.40 and 0.32 for 40K, 238U and 232Th and soil-to-cassava yam transfer factors were found to be 0.18, 0.29 and 0.25 for 40K, 238U and 232Th respectively. The soil-to-waterleaf transfer factors were found to be 0.37, 0.82 and 0.82 for 40K, 238U and 232Th while the soil-to-bitter leaf transfer factors were found to be 0.32, 0.74 and 0.68 for 40K, 238U and 232Th respectively. The mean absorbed dose rate was 25.08 ± 0.57  and the mean annual outdoor effective dose was 46.17 . The annual effective dose reported for this present study area represents 65.95% of the world average value of 70.00 and 47.11% of Nigeria value of 98.00 mSvy-1  


1996 ◽  
Vol 75 (05) ◽  
pp. 731-733 ◽  
Author(s):  
V Cazaux ◽  
B Gauthier ◽  
A Elias ◽  
D Lefebvre ◽  
J Tredez ◽  
...  

SummaryDue to large inter-individual variations, the dose of vitamin K antagonist required to target the desired hypocoagulability is hardly predictible for a given patient, and the time needed to reach therapeutic equilibrium may be excessively long. This work reports on a simple method for predicting the daily maintenance dose of fluindione after the third intake. In a first step, 37 patients were delivered 20 mg of fluindione once a day, at 6 p.m. for 3 consecutive days. On the morning of the 4th day an INR was performed. During the following days the dose was adjusted to target an INR between 2 and 3. There was a good correlation (r = 0.83, p<0.001) between the INR performed on the morning of day 4 and the daily maintenance dose determined later by successive approximations. This allowed us to write a decisional algorithm to predict the effective maintenance dose of fluindione from the INR performed on day 4. The usefulness and the safety of this approach was tested in a second prospective study on 46 patients receiving fluindione according to the same initial scheme. The predicted dose was compared to the effective dose soon after having reached the equilibrium, then 30 and 90 days after. To within 5 mg (one quarter of a tablet), the predicted dose was the effective dose in 98%, 86% and 81% of the patients at the 3 times respectively. The mean time needed to reach the therapeutic equilibrium was reduced from 13 days in the first study to 6 days in the second study. No hemorrhagic complication occurred. Thus the strategy formerly developed to predict the daily maintenance dose of warfarin from the prothrombin time ratio or the thrombotest performed 3 days after starting the treatment may also be applied to fluindione and the INR measurement.


2008 ◽  
Vol 47 (04) ◽  
pp. 175-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Dolezal

SummaryAim: To assess a radiation exposure and the quality of radiation protection concerning a nuclear medicine staff at our department as a six-year retrospective study. Therapeutic radionuclides such as 131I, 153Sm, 186Re, 32P, 90Y and diagnostic ones as a 99mTc, 201Tl, 67Ga, 111In were used. Material, method: The effective dose was evaluated in the period of 2001–2006 for nuclear medicine physicians (n = 5), technologists (n = 9) and radiopharmacists (n = 2). A personnel film dosimeter and thermoluminescent ring dosimeter for measuring (1-month periods) the personal dose equivalent Hp(10) and Hp(0,07) were used by nuclear medicine workers. The wearing of dosimeters was obligatory within the framework of a nationwide service for personal dosimetry. The total administered activity of all radionuclides during these six years at our department was 17,779 GBq (99mTc 14 708 GBq, 131I 2490 GBq, others 581 GBq). The administered activity of 99mTc was similar, but the administered activity of 131I in 2006 increased by 200%, as compared with the year 2001. Results: The mean and one standard deviation (SD) of the personal annual effective dose (mSv) for nuclear medicine physicians was 1.9 ± 0.6, 1.8 ± 0.8, 1.2 ± 0.8, 1.4 ± 0.8, 1.3 ± 0.6, 0.8 ± 0.4 and for nuclear medicine technologists was 1.9 ± 0.8, 1.7 ± 1.4, 1.0 ± 1.0, 1.1 ± 1.2, 0.9 ± 0.4 and 0.7 ± 0.2 in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, respectively. The mean (n = 2, estimate of SD makes little sense) of the personal annual effective dose (mSv) for radiopharmacists was 3.2, 1.8, 0.6, 1.3, 0.6 and 0.3. Although the administered activity of 131I increased, the mean personal effective dose per year decreased during the six years. Conclusion: In all three professional groups of nuclear medicine workers a decreasing radiation exposure was found, although the administered activity of 131I increased during this six-year period. Our observations suggest successful radiation protection measures at our department.


Author(s):  
Martin Ian Ralph ◽  
Marcus Cattani

Abstract In the 2019-20 reporting period, nineteen mining operations in Western Australia were identified as having workers who were likely to be exposed to ionising radiation stemming from naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs), seventeen of which, known hereinafter as Reporting Entities (REs), were required to submit an annual report of the dose estimates of their workforce to the mining regulatory authority. In 2018 the International Commission for Radiological Protection published the revision of the Dose Coefficients (DCs) for occupational intakes of radionuclides of the uranium-238 and thorium-232 decay series, in ICRP-137 and ICRP-141. The 2019-20 annual reports are the first to apply the revised DCs to estimate worker doses. The mean effective dose (ED) reported by the 17 REs increased by 32.4% to 0.94 mSv in 2019-20 from 0.71 mSv reported in 2018-19, indicating that the mean ED is approaching the 1 mSv annual dose estimate at which regulatory intervention should be considered. The mean committed effective dose (CED) from inhalation of dusts containing long-lived alpha-emitting (LLα) nuclides has increased by 35% from 0.40 mSv in 2018-19 to 0.54 mSv in 2019-20. The maximum CED from LLα increased by 16.3% from 3.20 mSv in 2018-19 to 3.72 mSv in 2019-20. The authors consider that, in the absence of other explanations provided by the REs, the increase is largely attributable to the revised DC’s published in ICRP-137 and ICRP-141, but highlight that there are significant variations between REs that make a generalised conclusion problematic. The maximum reported ED in 2019-20 was 6.0 mSv, an increase of 36.4% from 2018-19 (4.4 mSv). The 2019-20 reporting period is the first time in a decade in which mine worker EDs have been elevated to the point that EDs have exceeded 5 mSv, a level at which personal monitoring and additional institutional controls are required.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 102-110
Author(s):  
A. Molokanov ◽  
B. Kukhta ◽  
E. Maksimova

Purpose: Harmonization and improvement of the system for regulating the internal radiation exposure of workers and the basic requirements for ensuring radiation safety with international requirements and recommendations. Material and methods: Issues related to the development of approaches to regulation and monitoring of workers for internal radiation exposure in the process of evolution of the ICRP recommendations and the national radiation safety standards, are considered. The subject of analysis is the standardized values: dose limits for workers and permissible levels as well as directly related methods of monitoring of workers for internal radiation exposure, whose purpose is to determine the degree of compliance with the principles of radiation safety and regulatory requirements, including non-exceeding the basic dose limits and permissible levels. The permissible levels of inhalation intake of insoluble compounds (dioxide) of plutonium-239 are considered as a numerical example. Results: Based on the analysis of approaches to the regulation and monitoring of workers for internal radiation exposure for the period from 1959 to 2019, it is shown that a qualitative change in the approach occurred in the 1990s. It was due to a decrease in the number of standardized values by introducing a single dose limit for all types of exposure: the effective dose E, which takes into account the different sensitivity of organs and tissues for stochastic radiation effects (WT), using the previously accepted concepts of the equivalent dose H and groups of critical organs. From the analysis it follows that the committed effective dose is a linear transformation of the intake, linking these two quantities by the dose coefficient, which does not depend on the time during which the intake occurred, and reflects certain exposure conditions of the radionuclide intake (intake routes, parameters of aerosols and type of radionuclide compounds). It was also shown that the reference value of the function z(t) linking the measured value of activity in an organ (tissue) or in excretion products with the committed effective dose for a reference person, which is introduced for the first time in the publications of the ICRP OIR 2015-2019, makes it possible to standardize the method of measuring the normalized value of the effective dose. Based on the comparison of the predicted values of the lung and daily urine excretion activities following constant chronic inhalation intake of insoluble plutonium compounds at a rate equal annual limit of intake (ALI) during the period of occupational activity 50 years it was shown that the modern biokinetic models give a slightly lower level (on average 2 times) of the lungs exposure compared to the models of the previous generation and a proportionally lower level (on average 1.4 times) of plutonium urine excretion for the standard type of insoluble plutonium compounds S. However, for the specially defined insoluble plutonium compound, PuO2, the level of plutonium urine excretion differs significantly downward (on average 11.5 times) compared to the models of the previous generation. Conclusion: With the practical implementation of new ICRP OIR models, in particular for PuO2 compounds, additional studies should be carried out on the behavior of insoluble industrial plutonium compounds in the human body. Besides, additional possibilities should be used to determine the intake of plutonium by measuring in the human body the radionuclide Am-241, which is the Pu-241 daughter. To determine the plutonium urine excretion, the most sensitive measurement techniques should be used, having a decision threshold about fractions of mBq in a daily urine for S-type compounds and an order of magnitude lower for PuO2 compounds. This may require the development and implementation in monitoring practice the plutonium-DTPA Biokinetic Model.


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