Abstract
This work presents the results of a gamma spectrometry analysis of 30 traditional Mexican medicinal herbs. The analysis was carried out using low level background shielding, a hyper-pure germanium detector, and a multichannel analyzer system. Natural and artificial radiactivity concentration from 226Ra (through 214Pb and 214Bi), 228Th (through 208Tl), 228Ra (through 228Ac), 40K, and 137Cs were determined in this analysis. The results show low concentration levels of natural radioactivity and no artificial radionuclides, and different contents of natural 40K, in the studied medicinal herbs. These low concentration levels of natural radionuclides, cannot be consider a health risk for common consumers.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank to Allan Canek Chavarría, Carlos Zapata, Moises Cuautle, Alberto García, Javier Martinez, Pablo Carrasco, Lucila Martínez, and Marco Veytia, for their technical help. This work was partially supported by UNAM-DGAPA-PAPIIT Projects IN103013 and IN103316.
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Espinosa, G., Golzarri, JI. & Navarrete, JM. Determination of the natural and artificial radioactivity of a selection of traditional Mexican medicinal herbs by gamma spectrometry. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 307, 1717–1721 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4485-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4485-7