Gross Alpha, Gross Beta and ⁴⁰K Activities and Daily Effective Dose Due to Natural Radionuclides from Food Supplements

摘要

The fast rhythm of everyday life has led to habit of people to consume food supplements. The consumption of food supplements represents a pathway for the ingestion of natural radionuclides. For the radiological risk assessment studies, 14 samples of food supplements have been analysed in this work for gross alpha and gross beta activities, as well as for concentrations of potassium-40. The concentrations of potassium-40 radioisotope were calculated on the basis of the concentrations of total potassium, determined by sequential High-Resolution Continuum Source Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (HR-CS AAS) using the flame technique. The investigations revealed values for gross alpha activities, gross beta activities and the concentrations of 40 '> 40 40 ^{40} K in the ranges of 0.25 to 30.92 mBq g − 1 '> ? 1 ? 1 ^{-1} , 2.18 to 769.59 mBq g − 1 '> ? 1 ? 1 ^{-1} and LOD ( limit of detection ) to 651.52 mBq g − 1 '> ? 1 ? 1 ^{-1} , respectively. The maximum values were obtained for a supplement based on lucerne (alfalfa) extract, while the minimum ones were found for a supplement based on fish oil. For comparison purpose, 5 samples of frequently used drugs were also analysed. The corresponding values found for the investigated drugs are lower than those obtained for food supplements. High correlation coefficients have been found in all the studied samples between the gross alpha activity and gross beta activity (0.646), and between the gross beta activity and concentration of potassium-40 (0.778). The effective dose due to ingestion of natural radionuclides from food supplements varied as following: from 1.54 to 97.41 nSv per daily dose, assigned to 210 '> 210 210 ^{210} Po, and from 20.12 to 1393.92 nSv per daily dose, assigned to 228 '> 228 228 ^{228} Ra. The effective dose due to the ingestion of 40 '> 40 40 ^{40} K from food supplements ranged from 0 to 10.60 nSv per daily dose. The obtained values of effective doses were compared with the daily dose values recommended by the current EU legislation and World Health Organization (WHO).