Determination of Transfer Factors of Natural Radionuclides from Soil-to-Wheat Flour Consumed by Kars People

Abstract

In this study, 226Ra, 232Th and 40K activity concentrations were measured in a total of 45 soil samples taken from Kars and wheat flour samples produced from wheat grown in these soils. As a result of gamma spectrometric analysis, the mean activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K natural radionuclides in soil samples were found to be 20.1 ± 8.2, 31.2 ± 7.1, 496.1 ± 35.6 Bqkg-1, respectively. The average activity concentrations in wheat flour samples used mainly in bread making by the local people were found to be 11.0 ± 2.2, 10.8 ± 2.3 and 304.1 ± 25.5 Bqkg-1, respectively. Soil-to-plant transfer factors are of fundamental importance in the assessment of environmental impact due to the presence of radioactivity in soil and food. Therefore, soil-to-plant transfer factors of these natural radionuclides were evaluated for wheat flour samples. The transfer factors of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K radionuclides from soil to wheat flour were determined to be in the range of 0.30 ± 0.10 to 1.29 ± 0.95, 0.15 ± 0.07 to 0.86 ± 0.28 and 0.45 ± 0.07 to 0.83 ± 0.15, respectively. It has been observed that the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides in the study area are consistent with the results of similar studies conducted in our country and in different parts of the world.

Keywords

• Soil
• Wheat Flour
• Natural Radioactivity
• NaI(Tl) Dedector
• Transfer Factor

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