Estimation of annual effective dose due to ingestion of radioactive elements in Sri Lankan common meal plans

Abstract

Dietary ingestion of radionuclides by human may lead to many hazardous effects such as cancers. No studies have been conducted to estimate the levels of radioactivity dosage received from Sri Lankan homemade foods. In order to find out the levels of radionuclides in Sri Lankan cooked foods, meal plans (n = 11) that are most commonly consumed were analyzed for the activity concentrations of the radioisotopes 226Ra, 210Pb, 232Th, 137Cs, and 40K by means of gamma spectroscopy. 40K had the highest activity concentration present in the meal plans with a range of 80.56 ± 17.53 to 143.41 ± 24.6 Bq kg−1, and the radionuclides 226Ra, 210Pb, 137Cs, and 232Th were not detected in any of the analyzed meal plans. The annual intake of food was determined on the basis of their average annual consumption. The effective dose to an average adult who consumes the meal plans ranged from 0.030 to 0.051 mSv year−1. However, the effective dose and activity concentrations of radionuclides were lower than the guideline limit specified by United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation−1 and other countries. Hence, the consumption of cooked meal plans in Sri Lanka is safe in terms of radioactivity for the five radionuclides investigated in this study.