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

Abstract

Purpose

The 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/approach

This 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).

Findings

The 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 implications

The 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/value

The 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.

Citation

Idriss, H. and M Elhassan, H. (2021), "Preliminary survey of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K activity level and their cancer risk in some foodstuff, Sudan", British Food Journal, Vol. 123 No. 8, pp. 2856-2863. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-06-2020-0507