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A Comparison of the Concentration of Naturally Occurring Radionuclides in Organic and Conventional Staple Food

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Title A Comparison of the Concentration of Naturally Occurring Radionuclides in Organic and Conventional Staple Food
 
Creator Guro, Beant Kaur
Kalkal, Sunil
Mehra, Rohit
 
Subject Organic food
Comparison
Natural radioactivity
Conventional food
 
Description 455-460
Fertilizers based on NPK are reported to have large concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides. Hence, fertilizers
usage can elevate the concentration of natural radioisotopes in soil and groundwater leading to a higher concentration of 40K,
238U and 232Th in crops grown in these fields. In the last few years, a surge is witnessed in organic farming methods due to
consumer demand. In this study, the concentrations of 40K,232Th and 226Ra are compared between organic and
conventionally grown food crops. In total, 25 samples of organic and conventionally grown pulses and cereals were
collected. The NaI(Tl) gamma-ray spectrometer was used for measuring naturally occurring radioisotopes in samples. The
activity concentrations of 40K, 226Ra, and 232Th are almost same for both categories. The values of activity concentration of
226Ra and 232Th are well within the recommended limits but 40K activity concentration is higher than 400 Bq/kg in all the
samples. The radium equivalent for all organic and conventional samples is below the reference value of 370 Bq/kg. The
annual effective dose of children for 226Ra is higher than other age groups for wheat and rice samples but lower than the
reference value of 2.4 mSv/year. The internal hazard index for all samples is less than 1 for both categories. All samples of
both categories are safe for consumption as far as radionuclide concentrations are concerned. An elaborate investigation is
advised for different food and drinking items to broaden the horizons.
 
Date 2023-06-22T11:13:35Z
2023-06-22T11:13:35Z
2023-06
 
Type Article
 
Identifier 0975-0959 (Online); 0301-1208 (Print)
http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/62075
https://doi.org/10.56042/ijpap.v61i6.2417
 
Language en
 
Publisher NIScPR-CSIR, India
 
Source IJPAP Vol.61(06) [June 2023]