ABSTRACT

Background: ²²⁶ Ra and ²²⁸ Ra contents in foodstuffs of Ramsar which is a coastal city in the northern part of Iran were determined by gamma spectrometry. Measurement results together with food consumption rates were used to estimate annual effective dose from  ²²⁶ Ra and ²²⁸ Ra, due to consumption of food stuffs by inhabitants of Ramsar city.

Materials and Methods: A total of 33 samples from 11 different foodstuffs including root  vegetables (beetroot), leafy vegetables (lettuce, parsley and spinach) and tea, meat, chicken, pea, broad bean, rice, and cheese were purchased from markets of Ramsar city and were analyzed for their ²²⁶ Ra and ²²⁸Ra  concentration. 1-8 kg of fresh weight sample was placed in Marinnelli beaker and sealed. The measurement of natural radioactivity levels as performed by gamma-spectrometry system, using a high purity germanium (HPGe) detector with 40% relative efficiency.

Results: The highest concentrations of ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸ Ra were determined in tea samples with 1570 and 1140 mBq/kg ^, respectively , and the lowest concentration of ²²⁶Ra  was in pea, cheese, chicken, broad bean, and beetroot.

Conclusion: The maximum estimated  annual effective dose from ²²⁶ Ra and ²²⁸ Ra due to consumption of foodstuffs were determined to be  19.22   and   0.71 mSv   from  rice  and  meat samples respectively, where  as, the minimum estimated annual effective dose for  ²²⁶Ra  was 0.017, 0.018 and 0.019 mSv from beetroot, cheese and pea samples respectively.