Ingestion of polonium ((210)Po) via dietary sources in high background radiation areas of south India.
OBJECTIVE
To study the distribution of Polonium ((210)Po) activity in dietary sources in the high background radiation zone of Puttetti in southern Tamil Nadu.


METHODS
(210)Po was analyzed in the food materials consumed by the male and female individual representatives living in the high background areas by 24-h Duplicate Diet Study (DDS) and Market Basket Study (MBS). The MBS was performed by collecting the food samples such as, cereals, fruits, leafy vegetables, roots and tubers, other vegetables, fish, meat and milk grown in the high background radiation zone of southern Tamil Nadu as a part of baseline study in this region. The DDS was done by collecting the food materials consumed including the beverages in 24 h from different age groups of male and female individuals living in the village of Puttetti. The intake and ingestion dose of the radionuclide (210)Po was estimated.


RESULTS
The average concentration of (210)Po in DDS (n = 33) was found to be 74 mBq.kg(- 1) of fresh weight. The MBS was collected based on food consumption representing more than 85-95% of annual supply, and were divided into eight food groups. The average concentration of (210)Po in the eight food groups namely leafy vegetables was 2176 mBq.kg(- 1) (n = 3), vegetables 55 mBq.kg(- 1) (n = 10), roots and tubers 251 mBq.kg(- 1) (n = 4), fruits 65 mBq.kg(- 1) (n = 5), fish 345 mBq.kg(- 1) (n = 2), meat food 117 mBq.kg(- 1) (n = 3), milk 20 mBq.kg(- 1) (n = 1) and cereal 290 (n = 1) mBq.kg(- 1) of fresh weight, respectively. The annual intake and ingestion dose due to (210)Po was estimated by DDS and MBS in adults, adolescents and children. The overall results showed that the MBS was moderately higher than the DDS in all age groups. Moreover, a DDS approach may even be more realistic, as cooked foodstuffs are used for dietary exposure assessment.


CONCLUSIONS
The study confirms that the current levels of (210)Po do not pose a significant radiological risk to the local inhabitants.
Center for Environmental Nuclear Research, Directorate of Research, SRM University , Kattankulathur, Chennai, Tamilnadu , India.
Kantha Deivi
KD
Arunachalam
Kamesh Viswanathan
KV
Baskaran
D D
DD
Rao
R
R
Sathyapriya
Sathesh Kumar
SK
Annamalai
Jaya Krishna
JK
Kuruva
Shanmugamsundaram
S
Hari
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D001417:Background Radiation; D001822:Body Burden; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004032:Diet; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005507:Food Contamination, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D011059:Polonium / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000032:analysis*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D014915:Whole-Body Counting
D011059:Polonium
210; Duplicate diet; Po; ingestion dose; intake; market basket