title: Transfer factors for natural radioactivity into date palm pits.
abstract: Palm pits are used in various human and animal feed products. In this study, the natural radioactivity levels from soil and date palm pits of 9 samples collected from major date palm farms in three different regions (Buraidah, Al-Zulfi and Al-Majmaah) of Saudi Arabia were determined by using the high purity germanium (HPGe) gamma-ray spectrometer. The mean activity concentrations of226Ra,232Th,137Cs and40K in soil samples were 12.8 ± 2.2, 10.2 ± 2.1, 0.28 ± 0.10 and 329 ± 87 Bg kg-1, respectively. Similarly the mean activity concentrations of226Ra,232Th, and40K in date palm pits were 5.6 ± 1.2, 2.8 ± 0.4 and 181 ± 17 Bq kg-1, respectively, whereas137Cs could not be detected. The geometric mean of TF values (geometric standard deviation in parentheses) of226Ra,232Th, and40K were 0.33 (2.1), 0.22 (1.8) and 0.51 (2.0), respectively.
authors.affiliation: Al-majmaah University, Al-Zulfi, Saudi Arabia; Al-Hussien Bin Talal University, Ma'an, Jordan. Electronic address: m.abushayeb@mu.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Mohammad Abu
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Shayeb
authors.affiliation: Al-majmaah University, Al-Zulfi, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: t.alharbi@mu.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Thamer
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Alharbi
authors.affiliation: Al-majmaah University, Al-Zulfi, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: m.baloch@mu.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Muzahir Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Baloch
authors.affiliation: Al-majmaah University, Al-Zulfi, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: abu--a@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Omar Abdul
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Rahman Alsamhan
mesh_terms: D001417:Background Radiation; D065749:Phoeniceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011851:Radioactivity; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry*; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D013051:Spectrometry, Gamma
chemical_list: D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive
keywords: Date palm pits; Gamma–ray spectrometry; Radioactivity; Soil; Transfer factors