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Concentration of 210Po in vegan diet foods commercialized in Italy and dose calculation
Full text linkIngestion of food and drink is one of the main routes by which radioactive elements in the environment enter the human body, which is why it is essential to know the concentration of the most significant naturally occurring and anthropogenic radionuclides in the diet. The radionuclide that is the subject of this work is 210Po, a radionuclide whose radiotoxicity is comparable to that of 239Pu and is about five times greater than that of 226Ra. To date, natural and artificial radioactivity has been measured in various foodstuffs in Italy. However, there needs to be more sufficient data concerning the vegan diet. This particular diet excludes all foods of animal origin, which is becoming increasingly popular. According to Eurispes' Italy 2021 Report, it has been estimated that 2,4 % of the Italian population follows a vegan diet. The first objective of this work was to complete previous alpha spectrometry measurement campaigns of 210Po carried out by the same research group on typical foods of the vegan diet (legumes, cereals, and their derivatives, pseudocereals, algae, and spices) to contribute to more comprehensive databases. The second objective was calculating the committed effective dose resulting from one year of food consumption, using the concentration data obtained in the analyzed samples. The concentration values obtained ranged from a minimum of 0,069 ± 0,051 Bq kg−1 in cereal and legume products to a maximum of 3,89 ± 2,79 Bq kg−1 in algae. The committed effective dose for the average adult related to the consumption of these foods was 67,7 μSv y−1
RADIOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF PHOSPHATE FERTILIZERS: COMPARISON BETWEEN ALPHA AND GAMMA SPECTROMETRY
No full textThe natural radioactivity, 238U, 234U, 235U, 228Th, 230Th , 232Th 210Pb , 210Po 226Ra , 228Ra and40K, has
been measured in phosphate fertilizers used in central Italy. Radiological characterization of
phosphate fertilizers was performed by alpha and gamma spectrometry and the comparison between
the results obtained by these two techniques was done.
The concentration activities for the different radionuclides found in the fertilizer samples are
different; it can be due to the different concentration of uranium and thorium series radionuclides in
the raw material (phosphatic rock) and to the different composition of fertilizers. In the samples
analyzed it is possible to observe that the 234U/238U activity ratio is approximately one. While the
226Ra/234U and 210Po/234U activity ratios are clearly lower than one indicating that the majority of
210Po and 226Ra tends to remain in the phosphogypsum. While the U-isotopes tend to be in solution
with phosphoric acid from which all fertilizers derive. A very good correlation exists between the
activity concentrations found by alpha spectrometry and those found by gamma spectrometry .
Continued application of phosphate fertilizers to soil over a period of many years could eventually
increase the radium and uranium content of the soil, which would result in an increase of the dose to
bone. In any case in order to estimate the environmental impact of fertilizers use, it is necessary to
evaluate the transfer of radionuclides and their concentration distribution in the environmental
matrices such as soil,vegetation, milk, etc. and the individual doses by using mathematical models
Intake of 210Po, 234U and 238U radionuclides with wine in Italy
No full textWine is a widely consumed beverage in the world. Natural radioactivity has been
measured in drinking and mineral water and soft but there are not data for wine. For
this beverage, data are reported only on the artificial radioactivity (particularly 137Cs)
after Chernobyl. The composition of wine is influenced by many factors related to the
specific production as area, grape varieties, soil and climate and viticultural practices.
There are several sources contributing to wine contamination, and it is known that
radionuclides occur in wine from fruit contamination which can result from direct
deposition on fruit surfaces, absorption by the fruit skin and transport to the pulp,
deposition to soil, root uptake and transfer to fruit . This study provides some
information on the levels of natural radionuclides 238U, 234U isotopes and 210Po in
samples of red and white wine product in the different Italian regions. The committed
effective dose from 210Po, 234U and 238U for the individual local public through wine
ingestion was calculated. The results show that, for most of the samples, the 210Po
concentration is ten times higher than that of 238U. This fact is probably due to fallout of
atmospheric polonium on the leaves of the vines and on the grape.The data also
indicate that, in wine, the uranium concentration is lower that in water, whereas, the
polonium concentration is higher that in water
Neptunium-237 determination in depleted uranium ammunition by alpha spectrometry
No full textIt is well known that ammunition containing depleted uranium (DU) was used by NATO during the Balkan conflict. To evaluate the DU origin (natural uranium enrichment of or spent nuclear fuel reprocessing) it is necessary to check the presence of activation products (236U, 239Pu, 240Pu, 241Am and 237Np, etc.) in the ammunition. Uranium isotopes, 239Pu, 240Pu, 241Am concentrations in DU were determined in the past in our Laboratory: the present paper describes a new and accurate method for the separation and determination of 237Np ultratraces in a DU penetrator.
After sample dissolution, neptunium was separated by two chromatographic columns consisting of micropourous polyethylene (Icorene) supporting tri-n-octylamine (TNOA); after elettrodeposition, Np was counted by alpha spectrometry.
The decontamination factor of neptunium from uranium was higher than 106; the detection limit was 0.5 Bq/kg for 0.10 g of ammunition; the average Np yield was 54.0 ± 3.1%. 237Np concentration in DU resulted 30.1 ± 2.4 Bq/kg.
The presence of this anthropogenic radionuclides in the penetrator indicates once more that at least part of the uranium originated from the reprocessing of nuclear fuel, but, because of the very low concentration, its radiotoxicological effect is negligible
Determination of essential and non essential elements in some medicinal plants by polarised X rays fluorescence spectrometer (EDPXRF)
No full textIn this study the elemental composition of some medicinal plants used in Italy by
polarised X rays fluorescence spectrometer (EDPXRF) was evaluated. EDPXRF is a
simultaneous, reliable, sensitive, quantitative multielemental and non-destructive
technique, suitable for routine analysis due to minimal sample preparation. This
technique has been used successfully by various authors for the characterization of
different complex matrices. The elements taken into account are 23 subdivided in
essential (macro and micro) and nonessential or toxic. Among the essential elements
estimated in the present work we found the micro and trace elements (Mn, Fe, Co, Cu,
Zn, Ni, Cr, Cl, Br, I) and macro elements (K, Mg, Ca, P, S); along the nonessential
elements and the toxic elements Al, Rb, Sr, As, Cd, Sn, Pb and Hg are taken into
account. Although the direct linkage between elemental concentration in plants and
their reported curative potentials is yet to be established, information on the levels of
inorganic elements in plants is important in understanding the pharmacological and
toxicological actions of medicinal plants in general.The results obtained in the analysis
of some medicinal plants showed the presence of essential elements that could
enhance the curative process of ill health, as well as the presence of potentially toxic
elements
Sequential separation and determination of plutonium, americium-241 and strontium-90 in soils and sediments
No full text210Po determination in urines of people living in Central Italy
No full textThis paper presents the results of the monitoring programme on the urines of people living in an area of Central Italy (near the Republic of S. Marino) to evaluate the background level of the 210Po excretion rate (mBq day-1) in this region. The volunteers were subdivided in five age classes and in every age class groups of males and females, cigarette smokers and non-smokers were taken into account. The results indicated that the 210Po excretion rate was widely distributed within each group of volunteers. The 210Po excretion rate was <30 mBq day-1 for 93.2% of people. The obtained results are discussed and some conclusion, based upon the average values, was drawn. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Assessment of 210Po in Italian diet
No full textThis research was dedicated to the study, in the Italian daily diet, of the background activity concentration of 210Po, a radionuclide with a high radiotoxicity. 210Po was determined by alpha spectrometry. For food products of vegetable origin the 210Po activity concentration follows the trend: leafy vegetable > flour > rice > fruits > pasta > other vegetable > fruit vegetable; for those of animal origin: eggs > cheese > milk. The 210Po activity concentration was also compared with that found by the same authors in meat, sea food, water and beverages in a previous study. The committed effective dose to individuals of three population groups (infants, children and adults) were 379.28, 221.91 and 151.44 microSv y-1 respectively. The intake the foods of marine origin contributes about 67% of the total dose due to 210Po ingestion. The effective dose, from 210Po ingested by total die,t accounts for only 5-12% of the natural radiation exposure in Italy
Analytical methods for the characterization and the leachability evaluation of a solid waste generated in a phosphoric acid production plant
No full textNaturally Occuring Radioactive Materials (NORM) are present in the environment and
can be concentrated by technical activities, particularly those involving natural
resources. These NORM deposits are highly stable and very insoluble under
environmental conditions at the earth’s surface. However reducing or oxidant
conditions or pH changes may enable a fraction of naturally occurring radionuclides to
eventually be released to the environment. In this paper the analytical methods to
determine the chemical and radiochemical composition of a solid waste generated in
an acid phosphoric production plant was showed. The sample, analysed by gamma
spectrometry and radiochemical methods, contained 210Pb and 210Po and a high activity
concentration of uranium isotopes but it shows a very low quantity of 226Ra. Also a
sequential extraction method consisting of five operationally-defined fractions was used
to evaluate the leachability of uranium isotopes, 210Pb and 210Po. The average
leaching potential observed in the sample is 97.6% for 238U, 93.2% for 210Pb and 82.4%
for 210Po. Moreover the results show that 210Pb and 210Po are leachable under only
extreme conditions, whereas uranium is very more soluble.
The assessment of 210Po concentrations in marine organisms is very important for
estimating the intake levels of this radionuclide by consuming of marine products as
mussels and as well as for calculating the radiation doses received by the Central
Italian population due to the natural radiation from marine food chain
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