210 Pb and 210 Po activities in French foodstuffs

Abstract

The data on 210Pb and 210Po activities in French foodstuffs acquired during the last 15 years are numerous enough to derive reference values which will be usable to assess the dose to the French population due to the intake of these two natural radionuclides. The means and ranges are close to those observed in various countries and are most often higher than the reference values proposed by UNSCEAR. Mussels and oysters exhibit the highest 210Po activities of all kinds of foodstuffs, with a mean value of 27 Bq.kg-1 fresh weight, followed by crustaceans and small fish species (anchovies, mullets, sardines, etc.) with 210Po activities in the order of 3 to 10 Bq.k-1 fresh weight; cephalopods and other fish species presenting activities around 1 to 3 Bq.kg-1 fresh, close to the UNSCEAR reference value. Below these highest 210Po activities are those of 210Po and 210Pb in terrestrial kinds of foodstuffs, by decreasing order: meats (around 1 Bq.kg-1 fresh), cereals (0.4 Bq.kg-1), leafy vegetables (0.3 Bq.kg-1), other vegetables and fruits (0.1 Bq.kg-1), and milk (from 0.03 to 0.1 Bq.L-1).