Descriptive statistics and risk assessment for the control of seasonal pollutant effects of 210Po and 210Pb in coastal waters (Çanakkale, Turkey)

Health risk assessment of 210Po and 210Pb due to consumption of dried fish from natural high background radiation areas of Kanyakumari coast, Tamil Nadu, India

This study investigated the concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides, specifically polonium-210 (210Po) and Lead-210 (210Pb), and their associated health risks in dried fish samples collected from Natural High Background Radiation Areas (NHBRAs) along the Kanyakumari coast, India. Samples of water, sediment and twelve dried fish species were collected from seven coastal locations known for monazite-rich beach sands. Following rigorous electrochemical separation, low background Alpha and Beta counting system was employed to determine the activity concentrations of the radionuclides. Results indicated significant variations in both 210Po (range: 0.91-27.1 Bq/kg; mean: 7.13 Bq/kg) and 210Pb (range: 7.42-22.91 Bq/kg; mean: 12.58 Bq/kg) concentrations across the different fish species. The highest concentrations of both radionuclides were observed in Scomber scombrus and Engraulis encrasicolus. The 210Po/210Pb activity ratio varied from 0.09 to 1.27 (mean: 0.47), suggesting species-specific differences in the bioaccumulation of these radionuclides. An assessment of the Annual Effective Dose (AED) revealed age-dependent variations. Children exhibited higher sensitivity to 210Po exposure, with AED values ranging from 4 × 10-6 to 1.2 × 10-4 Sv/y, compared to adults and juveniles. An Excessive Lifetime Cancer Risk (ELCR) analysis showed the maximum mortality and morbidity risks associated with 210Po was found in Scomber scombrus (3 × 10-4 and 4.2 × 10-4, respectively). Crucially, these ELCR values remained below established global threshold limits. This comprehensive radiological assessment provides crucial baseline data for environmental monitoring and public health protection in coastal communities, especially within regions exhibiting elevated natural background radiation.

Determinations of 210Pb contents in food, diet, environmental samples and estimations of internal dose due to daily intakes

²¹⁰Pb in food, diet and environmental samples collected in China during the period of 2015-2017 was analyzed and discussed in this study. The activity concentrations of ²¹⁰Pb were measured by gamma spectrometry, the average of which in sea food, cereal, mushroom, duplicate diet, soil, sediment, biomass ash and aerosol samples were 1.22 ± 0.69 Bq kg^-1 fresh weight, 2.77 ± 0.33 Bq kg^-1 fresh weight, 8.2 Bq kg^-1 dry weight, 1.21 Bq kg^-1 dry weight, 172 ± 44 Bq kg^-1 dry weight, 87.2 ± 39.2 Bq kg^-1 dry weight, 140 ± 185 Bq kg^-1 and 813 ± 520 μBq m^-3, respectively. The results were higher than those observed in various countries except for seafood. The annual effective dose due to mushroom, duplicate diet and aerosol were estimated. Furthermore, the transfer factor (TF) of ²¹⁰Pb from soil to some species of mushroom were also considered. This study provided useful data for radiation protection of the public.