Potential Accumulation of 210Po Radionuclide in Baung Fish in Pontianak, West Kalimantan

Abstract

Polonium is a natural radionuclide contributor that can expose humans to ionizing radiation through food. Particularly concerning is how polonium behaves when it accumulates in biota organs. The community's favorite type of river biota, baung fish, is very likely to accumulate this radionuclide substance. Polonium activity was measured in these biota organs using an alpha spectrometer and compared to catfish from a fresh water fishery, which is a close relative of baung fish. The findings of this study revealed that baung fish had a higher polonium activity range of 2.5-125.95 Bq kg-1 than catfish sourced from aquaculture, which had an activity range of 0.71-15.21 Bq kg-1. This finding indicates that the baung fish habitat has a higher potential for polonium accumulation than the aquaculture environment. Nonetheless, when the activities of the two biota samples are compared by ALI data, the values remain within normal limits and do not exceed the safe limit.