Elemental Analysis of Nigerian and Nigerien Foods Using Neutron Activation and Estimation of Daily Intake

Abstract

Realizing the importance of individual elements to human body, 14 different food samples (mainly cereals: beans, millet, sorghum and rice) collected from two different countries; Nigeria and Republic of Niger, were analyzed using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) for the determination of the elemental content. Despite the commercial activity of uranium in the Republic of Niger, the concentration of Uranium, Arsenic, Chromium etc. in the studied samples show below detection limit. Elevated concentrations of K, Ca and Mg were found from the sampled beans of this work. Daily intake per person of all assessed elements were estimated and compared with Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) to establish the accumulation information of mineral, toxic and radioactive elements in the body of people of Nigeria and Niger Republic. Assessed elemental concentrations were compared with the available literature data on relevant cereals, and found reasonable agreement. Analytical quality control service (AQCS) reference material (lichen) from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was also irradiated and analyzed in this work for ensuring quality control of the method and facility (nuclear reactor) used.