Title: Measurement of activity concentration of radionuclides and the committed annual effective dose due to the consumption of typical South Indian meal

Authors: D. Deva Jayanthi; C.G. Maniyan; S. Perumal

Addresses: Department of Physics, Women's Christian College, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India ' Cochin Medical College, Kerala, India ' S.T. Hindu College, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract: The present study was carried out to evaluate the activity concentration of radionuclides and the annual effective dose received by the residents of south-west coast of Tamil Nadu, India, due to the consumption of typical South Indian meal. Food samples were collected and analysed by means of gamma spectrometry to measure the activity concentration of ²²⁸Ra, ⁴⁰K, ²³²Th and ²³⁸U. The daily intake of ²²⁸Ra, ⁴⁰K, ²³²Th and ²³⁸U activity ranged from 1.34 to 2.98 Bq kg⁻¹, 27.7 to 88.7 Bq kg⁻¹, 5.4 to 11.3 Bq kg⁻¹ and 2.05 to 4.94 Bq kg⁻¹, respectively. Among the intake of radionuclides, the highest consumption is that of ⁴⁰K. The annual effective dose to individuals from the consumption of South Indian food was estimated on the basis of the measured radionuclide contents in the food. The annual effective dose received by the individuals ranged between 0.79 and 1.73 mSv.

Keywords: natural radioactivity; food stuffs; effective ingestion dose; natural radionuclides; low radiation; India; South Indian meals.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLR.2014.060909

International Journal of Low Radiation, 2014 Vol.9 No.3, pp.181 - 188

Received: 08 Mar 2013
Accepted: 08 Sep 2013
Published online: 22 Oct 2014 *

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