Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T00:04:33.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ingestion of U(nat), 226Ra, 230Th and210Po in vegetables by adult inhabitants of Bagjata uranium mining area,Jharkhand, India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2010

S. Giri ,
G. Singh ,
V.N. Jha  and
R.M. Tripathi
S. Giri
Affiliation:
Dept. of Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad-826004, India.
G. Singh
Affiliation:
Dept. of Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad-826004, India.
V.N. Jha
Affiliation:
Environmental Assessment Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai-400085, India.
R.M. Tripathi
Affiliation:
Environmental Assessment Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai-400085, India.
Get access

Abstract

Ingestion of radionuclides through food intake accounts for a substantial part ofradiation doses and vegetables constitute essential components of the diet, bycontributing protein, vitamins, iron, calcium and other nutrients. Radionuclides can beapprehended in the ecosystem of the East Singhbhum region which is known for its viablegrades of uranium. In the present study, vegetables were collected from the villagesaround the proposed Bagjata mining area and analysed for U(nat), 226Ra,230Th and 210Po. The geometric mean concentration of U(nat),226Ra, 230Th, and 210Po were 0.05, 0.09, 0.17 and 1.12Bq kg-1 fresh weight, respectively. The intake of the radionuclides fromvegetables was found to be 49.58 Bq y-1while the ingestion dose was calculatedto be 11.51 µSv y-1, respectively. The estimated doses are reflecting thenatural background dose via the route of ingestion, which is much belowthe 1 mSv limit set in the new ICRP recommendations. It is lower than the global averageannual radiation dose of 2 400 µSv to man from the natural radiation sources as proposedby UNSCEAR. The total cancer risk due to the consumption of vegetables was calculated tobe 6.65 × 10-9 which is negligible and much lower than the threshold risk valueof 10-6. The study also reveals that water is more conducive forhigh radioactivity occurrence in vegetables compared to soil systems.

Keywords

vegetablesradionuclidesingestion dosecancer riskintake
Type
Article
Information
Radioprotection , Volume 45 , Issue 2 , April 2010 , pp. 183 - 199
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alam, M.N., Chowdhury, M.I., Kamal, M., Ghose, S., Banu, H., Chakraborty, , D., (1997) Radioactivity in chemical fertilizers used in Bangladesh, Appl. Radiat. Isot. 48, 1165–1168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Al-Jundi, J., Al-Bataina, B.A., Abu-Rukah, Y., Shehadeh, H.M. (2003) Natural radioactivity concentrations in soil samples along the Amman Aqaba Highway Jordan, Radiat. Meas. 36, 555–560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, K.C., Erhardt, W.H., Francis, C.W. (l965) Polonium-210 analyses of vegetables, cured and uncured tobacco and associated soils, Science 150, 1738-1739.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhola K.L., Dar K.K., Ramarao Y.N., Suri Sastry C., Mehta N.R. (1964) A review of Uranium and Thorium deposits in India. In: 3rd International Conference of the peaceful uses of Atomic Energy. Volume 12, pp.750-756. Multilingual Edition United Nations.
Carini, F. (2000) Uptakes of Radionuclides by Fruits, Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 92, 39-44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carini F.Carini, F. (2001) Radionuclide transfer from soil to fruit, J. Env. Radioact. 52, 237-279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chojnacha, K., Chojnacha, A., Gorecka, H., Gorecki, H. (2005) Bioavailability of heavy metals from polluted soils to plants, Sci. Total Environ. 337, 175-182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dang H.S., Jaiswal D.D., Parameswaran M., Krishnamony S. (1994) Physical Anatomical, Physiological and Metabolic Data for Reference Man-A Proposal. BARC/1994/E/043.
Dang, H.S., Jaiswal, D.D., Parameswaran, M., Deodhar, K.P., Krishnamony, S. (1996) Age Dependent Physical and Anatomical Indian Data for application in Internal Dosimetry, Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 63, 217-222. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Figgins P.E. (1961) Radiochemistry of Polonium, National Academy of Science, NS Series, 3037.
Francis, C.W., Chesters, G., Erhardt, W.H. (1968) Polonium-210 entry into plants, Environ. Sci. Tech. 2, 690-695.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, C.R. (1960) Lead-210 and 210Po in grass, Nature 187, 211-212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyde E.K. (1960) Radiochemistry of Thorium. National Academy of Science, NS series, 3004.
ICRP Publication 68 (1994) International Commission on Radiological Protection Report. Dose Coefficients for Intakes of Radionuclides by Workers, Ann. ICRP 24.
ICRP Publication 72 (1996) International Commission on Radiological Protection. Age-dependent doses to the members of the public from intake of radionuclides: Part 5, Compilation of ingestion and inhalation dose coefficients, Ann. ICRP 26(1).
ICRP Publication 103 (2007) Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, Ann. ICRP 37 (2–4).
Jain, S.C., Mehta, S.C., Kumar, B., Reddy, A.R., Nagaratnam, A. (1995) Formulation of the Reference Indian Adult: Anatomical and Physiological Data, Health Phys. 68, 509-522. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kabata-Pendias A. (2001) Trace elements in Soils and Plants (3rd edn). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 14-26.
Khairiah, T., Zalifah, M.K., Yin, Y.H., Aminah, A. (2004) The uptake of heavy metals by fruit type vegetables grown in selected agricultural areas, Pak. J. Biol. Sci. 7, 1438-1442.Google Scholar
Kolthoff I.M., Elving P.J. (1962) Treatise on Analytical Chemistry, part II, Vol. 9.
Lehoczky, E., Szabo, L., Horvath, S. (1998) Cadmium uptake by lettuce in different soils, Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 28, 1903-1912.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Markose P.M. (1990) Studies on the environmental behaviour of Radium from uranium mill tailings, Ph.D. Thesis. Bombay University.
Miller J.C., Miller J.N. (1989) Statistics for analytical chemistry (2nd edn.). Ellis Horwood Limited, New York.
Moore, H.E., Martell, E.A., Poet, S.E. (1976) Sources of Polonium-210 in atmosphere, Environ. Sci. Technol. 10, 586.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Navas, A., Machín, J., Soto, J. (2005) Mobility of natural radionuclides and selected major and trace elements along a soil toposequence in the central Spanish Pyrenees, Soil Science 170, 743-757.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NCRP (1975) National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Natural background radiation in the United States, Report No. 45.
Pietrzak-Flis, Z., Skowronska-Smolak, M. (1995) Transfer of 210Pb and 210Po to plants via root system and above-ground interception, Sci. Total Environ. 162, 139–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Platford, R.F., Joshi, , S.R., (1986) The chemistry of uranium and related radionuclides in Lake Ontario (USA, Canada) waters, J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem. 106, 333-344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ragjavayya, M., Iyengar, M.A.R., Markose, P.M. (1980) Estimation of Radium-226 by Emanometry, Bulletin of India Association for Radiation protection 3, 11-15.Google Scholar
Santos, P.L., Gouvea, R.C., Dutra, I.R. (1993) Lead-210 in vegetables and soils from an area of high natural radioactivity in Brazil, Sci. Total Environ. 138, 37-46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarangi A.K., Singh A.S. (2006) Vein type Uranium Mineralisation in Jaduguda,Uranium Deposits, Singhbhum, India, In: Intern.Symp.on understanding the genesis of ore deposits to meet the demands of 21th century: Association on the genesis of ore deposits (Moscow) 12, 54-61.
Shacklette H.T., Erdman J.A., Harms T.F. (1978) Trace elements in plant foodstuffs, in Toxicity of Heavy metals in the Environment, Part 1, p. 25, F.W. Oehme (Ed.). Marcel Dekker, New York.
Sharma, R.K., Agrawal, M. (2006) Effects of single and combined treatment of Cd and Zn on carrots: uptake and bioaccumulation, Journal of Plant Nutrition 29, 1791-1804.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, R.K., Agrawal, M., Marshall, F. (2008) Heavy metal (Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb) contamination of vegetables in urban India: A case study in Varanasi, Environmental Pollution 154, 254-263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tanaka, N., Takeda, Y., Tsunogai, S. (1983) Biological effects on the removal of Th-234, Po-210 and Pb-210 from surface waters on Funka Bay, Geochem. Cosmochim. Acata. 47, 1783-1790.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson H.C., Kelly W.C. (1990) Vegetable crops (5th edn.), p. 121. MacGraw Hill Publishing Company Ltd, New Delhi.
Tripathi, R.M., Raghunath, R., Krishnamoorthy, T.M. (1997) Dietary intake of heavy metals in Bombay city, India, Sc. Total Environm. 208, 149-159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tzortzis, M., Svoukis, E., Tsetos, H. (2004) A comprehensive study of natural gamma radioactivity levels and associated dose rates from surface soils in Cyprus, Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 109, 217-224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
UNSCEAR (1993) United Nations Scientific Committee on Effects of Atomic Radiation. Sources and effects of ionizing radiation, Report to the General Assembly, New York.
UNSCEAR (2000) Sources and effects of ionizing radiation United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. Report to the General Assembly with scientific annexes, New York, USA, pp. 111-125.
US-EPA (1993) Carcinogenicity assessment. IRIS (Integrated Risk Information System), 2003, US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC, USA. Internet: www.epa.gov/iris.
Wanty, R.B., Johnson, S.L., Briggs, P.H. (1991) Radon-222 and its parent nuclides in groundwater from two study areas in New Jersey and Maryland, USA, Applied Geochemistry 6, 305-318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wayne, R.O. (1990) A physical explanation of the lognormality of pollutant concentrations, Journal of the Air and Management Association 40, 1378-1383.Google Scholar