International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis

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Natural Radioactivity Level of 238U, 232Th, and 40K in Baby Food and Committed Annual Effective Dose Assessment in Bangladesh

Received: 08 October 2020    Accepted: 24 October 2020    Published: 04 November 2020
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Abstract

Worldwide, the contagion of chronic diseases like diabetes and cancer among children has made the nutritionists thoughtful. Food contamination with radioactivity, became a severe health threat for children below five since they are under developing immune systems and cannot fight off infections like adults. Radioactivity concentrated in food chain may be transferred to human body and increase the cumulative risk of developing cancer and some other diseases. Therefore the assessment of radioactivity levels in baby food and their associated doses are of crucial importance for health safety. The study is focused on the radiation contamination of baby food due to the nuclear disasters and make public awareness about infant’s nutrition followed by the health safety. The natural radioactivity level due to 238U, 232Th and 40K in baby food (cereals and powder milk) samples, marketed in Bangladesh were estimated and annual effective dose was assessed. Gamma spectrometry was performed by HPGe detector coupled with MCA, and certified reference materials were used for quantification and quality control. The average concentrations of 238U, 232Th and 40K were found to be 5.42±0.42, 5.71±0.50 and 334.4±12 Bq.Kg-1 in milk sample and 2.98±0.38, 3.94±0.29 and 155.7±7.5 Bq.Kg-1 in cereal sample respectively. The committed effective doses due to ingestion of natural radionuclides (238U, 232Th and 40K) from the consumption of milk and cereals for age group <1 year were 1.30 and 0.51 mSv/yr and for age group 1-2 year were 0.31 and 0.15 mSv/yr respectively. The age group < 1yr, who are completely depend on formula milk are under highly threat since their annual effective dose 1.30 mSv/yr exceeds the recommended permissible limit of 1 mSv/yr. The data generated in this study will provide base-line radiometric values of activity concentration and annual effective dose attributed from baby foods in Bangladesh.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijema.20200806.12
Published in International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (Volume 8, Issue 6, December 2020)
Page(s) 187-192
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

MCA, HPGe Detector, NaI (TI) Detector, Natural Radioactivity, Effective Dose, Radio-nuclides

References
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[17] H. M. N. L. L. B. Dewey KG, “Maternal versus infant factors related to breast milk intake and residual milk volume,” Dewey KG, Heinig MJ, Nommsen LA, Lonnerdal B. Maternal versus infanthe DARLING study. Pediatrics, vol. 87, no. 6, pp. 829-837, 1991.
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Author Information
  • Department of Physics, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA

  • Department of Physics, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

  • Department of Physics, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA

  • Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Dhaka, Bangladesh

  • Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Dhaka, Bangladesh

  • Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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    Khadiza Begam, Mohammad Moshiur Rahman, Mohammad Alamgir Kabir, Umma Tamim, Syed Mohammod Hossain, et al. (2020). Natural Radioactivity Level of 238U, 232Th, and 40K in Baby Food and Committed Annual Effective Dose Assessment in Bangladesh. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 8(6), 187-192. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20200806.12

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    ACS Style

    Khadiza Begam; Mohammad Moshiur Rahman; Mohammad Alamgir Kabir; Umma Tamim; Syed Mohammod Hossain, et al. Natural Radioactivity Level of 238U, 232Th, and 40K in Baby Food and Committed Annual Effective Dose Assessment in Bangladesh. Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal. 2020, 8(6), 187-192. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20200806.12

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    AMA Style

    Khadiza Begam, Mohammad Moshiur Rahman, Mohammad Alamgir Kabir, Umma Tamim, Syed Mohammod Hossain, et al. Natural Radioactivity Level of 238U, 232Th, and 40K in Baby Food and Committed Annual Effective Dose Assessment in Bangladesh. Int J Environ Monit Anal. 2020;8(6):187-192. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20200806.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijema.20200806.12,
      author = {Khadiza Begam and Mohammad Moshiur Rahman and Mohammad Alamgir Kabir and Umma Tamim and Syed Mohammod Hossain and Afia Begum},
      title = {Natural Radioactivity Level of 238U, 232Th, and 40K in Baby Food and Committed Annual Effective Dose Assessment in Bangladesh},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis},
      volume = {8},
      number = {6},
      pages = {187-192},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijema.20200806.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20200806.12},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.20200806.12},
      abstract = {Worldwide, the contagion of chronic diseases like diabetes and cancer among children has made the nutritionists thoughtful. Food contamination with radioactivity, became a severe health threat for children below five since they are under developing immune systems and cannot fight off infections like adults. Radioactivity concentrated in food chain may be transferred to human body and increase the cumulative risk of developing cancer and some other diseases. Therefore the assessment of radioactivity levels in baby food and their associated doses are of crucial importance for health safety. The study is focused on the radiation contamination of baby food due to the nuclear disasters and make public awareness about infant’s nutrition followed by the health safety. The natural radioactivity level due to 238U, 232Th and 40K in baby food (cereals and powder milk) samples, marketed in Bangladesh were estimated and annual effective dose was assessed. Gamma spectrometry was performed by HPGe detector coupled with MCA, and certified reference materials were used for quantification and quality control. The average concentrations of 238U, 232Th and 40K were found to be 5.42±0.42, 5.71±0.50 and 334.4±12 Bq.Kg-1 in milk sample and 2.98±0.38, 3.94±0.29 and 155.7±7.5 Bq.Kg-1 in cereal sample respectively. The committed effective doses due to ingestion of natural radionuclides (238U, 232Th and 40K) from the consumption of milk and cereals for age group <1 year were 1.30 and 0.51 mSv/yr and for age group 1-2 year were 0.31 and 0.15 mSv/yr respectively. The age group < 1yr, who are completely depend on formula milk are under highly threat since their annual effective dose 1.30 mSv/yr exceeds the recommended permissible limit of 1 mSv/yr. The data generated in this study will provide base-line radiometric values of activity concentration and annual effective dose attributed from baby foods in Bangladesh.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Natural Radioactivity Level of 238U, 232Th, and 40K in Baby Food and Committed Annual Effective Dose Assessment in Bangladesh
    AU  - Khadiza Begam
    AU  - Mohammad Moshiur Rahman
    AU  - Mohammad Alamgir Kabir
    AU  - Umma Tamim
    AU  - Syed Mohammod Hossain
    AU  - Afia Begum
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20200806.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijema.20200806.12
    T2  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JF  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JO  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    SP  - 187
    EP  - 192
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7667
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20200806.12
    AB  - Worldwide, the contagion of chronic diseases like diabetes and cancer among children has made the nutritionists thoughtful. Food contamination with radioactivity, became a severe health threat for children below five since they are under developing immune systems and cannot fight off infections like adults. Radioactivity concentrated in food chain may be transferred to human body and increase the cumulative risk of developing cancer and some other diseases. Therefore the assessment of radioactivity levels in baby food and their associated doses are of crucial importance for health safety. The study is focused on the radiation contamination of baby food due to the nuclear disasters and make public awareness about infant’s nutrition followed by the health safety. The natural radioactivity level due to 238U, 232Th and 40K in baby food (cereals and powder milk) samples, marketed in Bangladesh were estimated and annual effective dose was assessed. Gamma spectrometry was performed by HPGe detector coupled with MCA, and certified reference materials were used for quantification and quality control. The average concentrations of 238U, 232Th and 40K were found to be 5.42±0.42, 5.71±0.50 and 334.4±12 Bq.Kg-1 in milk sample and 2.98±0.38, 3.94±0.29 and 155.7±7.5 Bq.Kg-1 in cereal sample respectively. The committed effective doses due to ingestion of natural radionuclides (238U, 232Th and 40K) from the consumption of milk and cereals for age group <1 year were 1.30 and 0.51 mSv/yr and for age group 1-2 year were 0.31 and 0.15 mSv/yr respectively. The age group < 1yr, who are completely depend on formula milk are under highly threat since their annual effective dose 1.30 mSv/yr exceeds the recommended permissible limit of 1 mSv/yr. The data generated in this study will provide base-line radiometric values of activity concentration and annual effective dose attributed from baby foods in Bangladesh.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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