Introduction
Natural and artificial radionuclides are the main sources of human radiation exposure, which enter the food chain from the environment. Radionuclides can affect human health by transferring from soil to plants and entering the human body. In this research study, we aimed to determine the activity concentrations of radionuclides and calculate the average annual committed effective dose (AACED) due to the ingestion of some medicinal and edible plants from Shazand, Markazi Province, Iran.
Materials and Methods
The specific activities of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K, and ¹³⁷Cs in eight medicinal and edible plant species and their surrounding soils were determined, using gamma-ray spectrometry and a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector. The samples were collected from Shazand, situated in Markazi Province, Iran.
Results
The maximum soil-to-plant transfer factor (TF)for ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K, and ¹³⁷Cswas estimated at 0.13, 0.13, 3.17, and 0.09, respectively. Based on the findings, the AACED for 1kg of edible plants varied from 0.63±0.16 to 13.71±0.14μSv/y. The annual gonadal dose Equivalent (AGDE) varied from 556 to 717 µSv/y for the soil samples (mean: 642µSv/y). The threshold consumption rate for edible plants ranged between21.86and 82.63 kg/y.
Conclusion
In this study, AACED due to the ingestion of radionuclides was lower than the global average (0.3 mSv/y). Therefore, the present results indicated no radiation health risks, associated with the use of these medicinal plants for disease treatment. However, it should be noted that all soil samples and some plants were polluted by radiocesium.