Article: Radionuclide content of human samples in the Ramsar area of Iran Journal: International Journal of Low Radiation (IJLR) 2006 Vol.3 No.4 pp.348 - 354 Abstract: As part of a survey to determine public exposure to natural radiation and to estimate radionuclide levels in the diet and human tissues, the radionuclide content of different biological samples of residents in Ramsar, a high level background radiation area (HLBRA) in Iran, has been measured. The main route of 210Po and 210Pb intake in the human body is ingestion via foodstuffs. The absorption of 210Po into the blood from the digestive system was estimated to be 30–40%. The highest concentrations of 210Po and 210Pb in the body were accumulated in the skeleton and hair. The average 226Ra in ashed bone samples was 30.02 fci. A surprisingly high 210Po content was found in human hair, with levels of 0.182 P cig-1 and 0.161 P cig-1 in nine males and six females, respectively. The calculated annual radiation doses of 210Po in the bone, liver and kidneys was 2.5–4.5 mrad.a-1 and in other soft tissues 0.4–0.8 mrad.a-1. The mean concentration of 210Po in 100 ml of urine was 2.00 (±0.86 SE) mBq and for control samples was 0.86 (±0.03 SE) mBq. It is concluded that the 210Po concentration in residents is significantly elevated in proportion to background levels but so far there is no evidence of health problems arising from this. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Radionuclide content of human samples in the Ramsar area of Iran

Authors: H. Samavat, Gh. Azizian, M.R.D. Seaward, S.M.R. Aghamiri

Addresses: Department of Medical Physics, Hamedan University of Medical Sciences, Hamedan, Iran. ' Department of Medical Physics, Hamedan University of Medical Sciences, Hamedan, Iran. ' Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK. ' Department of Medical Physics, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: As part of a survey to determine public exposure to natural radiation and to estimate radionuclide levels in the diet and human tissues, the radionuclide content of different biological samples of residents in Ramsar, a high level background radiation area (HLBRA) in Iran, has been measured. The main route of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb intake in the human body is ingestion via foodstuffs. The absorption of ²¹⁰Po into the blood from the digestive system was estimated to be 30–40%. The highest concentrations of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb in the body were accumulated in the skeleton and hair. The average ²²⁶Ra in ashed bone samples was 30.02 fci. A surprisingly high ²¹⁰Po content was found in human hair, with levels of 0.182 P cig^-1 and 0.161 P cig^-1 in nine males and six females, respectively. The calculated annual radiation doses of ²¹⁰Po in the bone, liver and kidneys was 2.5–4.5 mrad.a^-1 and in other soft tissues 0.4–0.8 mrad.a^-1. The mean concentration of ²¹⁰Po in 100 ml of urine was 2.00 (±0.86 SE) mBq and for control samples was 0.86 (±0.03 SE) mBq. It is concluded that the ²¹⁰Po concentration in residents is significantly elevated in proportion to background levels but so far there is no evidence of health problems arising from this.

Keywords: body burdens; high level background radiation area; HLBRA; Iran; radionuclides; Ramsar; low radiation; public exposure; natural radiation; polonium-210; lead-210; foodstuffs; food.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLR.2006.012010

International Journal of Low Radiation, 2006 Vol.3 No.4, pp.348 - 354

Published online: 09 Jan 2007 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article

Title: Radionuclide content of human samples in the Ramsar area of Iran

Keep up-to-date