Preliminary survey of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K activity level and their cancer risk in some foodstuff, Sudan

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to buildup baseline data for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K levels in different food samples and computes their cancer risk (CR).Design/methodology/approachThis report has been performed to buildup baseline data for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K levels in different food samples and computes their CR. 226Ra, 232Th and 40K activity levels were measured using ?-ray spectrometry based on high-purity germanium (HPGe).FindingsThe findings exhibited that the annual effective dose (AED) and CR due to 226Ra ingestion in foodstuff samples have shown the trends cereal > vegetable > meat > fruits > sesame. Meanwhile, (AED) and (CR) due to 40K displayed the trends vegetable > cereal > meat > fruits > sesame. Although the average value of radiological dose due to ingestion of some radionuclides slightly exceed the values of some foodstuff around the world. However, the overall average of (AED) for all foodstuff samples (226.6 µSv/y) was found to be far below the world average (AED) (300 µSv/y).Practical implicationsThe main contributor to the AED was 40K 85, 226Ra 9 and 232Th 6%. The computed magnitude values for CR owing to 226Ra, 232Th, 40K (1.3 × 10−5) lower than International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) CR of (2.5 × 10−3) for the general public.Originality/valueThe main contributor to the AED was 40K 85 %, 226Ra 9% and 232Th 6%. The computed magnitude values for CR owing to 226Ra, 232Th, 40K (1.3 × 10−5) lower than ICRP CR of (2.5 × 10−3) for the general public.