AN ASSESSMENT OF INGESTION DOSE TO PUBLIC FROM POLONIUM -210 AND LEAD- 210 VIA DIETARY SOURCES IN AN INDUSTRIAL AREA ELOOR, KERALA, INDIA

摘要

Polonium -210 (~(210)Po) and lead-210 (~(210)Pb), decay products of uranium series, are of much importance in ingestion dose assessment because of their largest contribution to the natural radiation dose received by many species. The activities of ~(210)Po and ~(210)Pb were determined in soil and vegetable samples in the Eloor Island, an industrial belt in the southern peninsular region in the state of Kerala, with an aim of evaluating ingestion dose to critical population residing in the island. The ~(210)Po activity concentration was determined by radiochemical separation method followed by alpha counting using alpha scintillation counter. The ~(210)Pb activity has been determined via the ~(210)Po measurement resulting from the decay of ~(210)Pb. In soil samples the ~(210)Pb and ~(210)Po ranged from 8.3 to 21.1 BqKg~(-1) and 11.1 to 22.2 Bq Kg~(-1) respectively. The activity concentration of ~(210)Pb and ~(210)Po in vegetable samples was found to be varied from 0.06 to 0.31 BqKg~(-1) and 0.10 to 0.42Bq Kg~(-1) respectively. Among the vegetable samples analyzed leafy vegetables (spinach) shows relatively higher activity concentration for both ~(210)Pb and ~(210)Po. The measurement of transfer factor shows that the uptake of ~(210)Pb and ~(210)Po in spinach is relatively higher than other vegetables. The annual committed effective dose to the population via ~(210)Pb and ~(210)Po intake was found to be 51.6μSv per year.