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Po-210 activity concentrations in wild and farmed fish from the Aegean Sea and Sea of Marmara and dose assessment to consumers

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Abstract

Polonium (210Po) is the major contributor (with approximately 90%) to the radiation dose from radionuclides contained in the human diet, and it is mostly associated with seafood. This study presents 210Po activity concentrations in the tissues of 16 fish species from the Aegean Sea and Sea of Marmara. Among all species investigated, the highest 210Po activity concentration was 4450 ± 33 Bq kg−1 dry weight (dw) in the digestive tract of anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), and the lowest 210Po activity concentration was 1.3 ± 0.6 Bq kg−1 (dw) in the muscle tissue of the thornback ray (Raja clavata). Significant differences in 210Po concentrations were consistently found among the tissues of fish (P < 0.05). In general, the prominent accumulation of 210Po was observed in the digestive tract and liver while the muscle tissue generally displayed the lower concentrations. Polonium concentrations in the internal organs, such as muscle and liver, were related to the feeding ecology of fish and thus are a consequence of 210Po transfer in the food chain rather than 210Po uptake from water. The average 210Po concentration in fish filet was 54.1 Bq kg−1 dw and to attain the recommended limit for the annual committed effective dose (1 mSv year−1) would require the consumption of 1024 kg of mixed fish filet in 1 year, which is unlikely to happen. The highest 210Po activity concentration in the edible part of fish (filet) was determined in the anchovy (E. encrasicolus) but to reach the 1 mSv year−1 limit would require still the consumption of 7.1 kg year−1 of anchovy filet. Similar size specimens of wild and farmed fish, Dicentrarchus labrax and Sparus aurata, were analyzed to assess the differences in 210Po concentrations. Polonium concentrations in the wild fish were several-fold higher than in farmed specimens, these ones fed with fish feed with 210Po content lower than natural food in the sea. Therefore, the current trend of increasing the consumption of seafood from aquaculture seems to be reducing the radiation exposure to 210Po in the human diet that is considered beneficial to public health.

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Funding

This research was supported by the Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of Istanbul University, Türkiye (Project number: 25296).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Services and Techniques Department, Medical Laboratory Techniques Program, Istanbul Arel University, Sefaköy, 34295, Istanbul, Türkiye

    Narin Sezer

  2. Institute of Graduate Studies in Sciences, Istanbul University, Suleymaniye, Istanbul, Türkiye

    Eren Nural & Mert Kesiktaş

  3. Hydrobiology Division, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Istanbul University, Vezneciler, 34134, Istanbul, Türkiye

    Emre Yemişken & Lütfiye Eryılmaz

  4. Department of Marine and Freshwater Resources Management, Faculty of Aquatic Sciences, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Türkiye

    Onur Gönülal

  5. Laboratório de Protecção e Segurança Radiológica, Instituto Superior Técnico/Campus Tecnológico Nuclear, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

    Fernando P. Carvalho

  6. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Istanbul University, Vezneciler, 34134, Istanbul, Türkiye

    Murat Blivermiş & Önder Kılıç

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  1. Narin Sezer
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Contributions

Narin Sezer: writing, validation, formal analysis, methodology, investigation. Eren Nural: validation, formal analysis, methodology. Mert Kesiktaş: methodolgy. Emre Yemişken: methodolgy. Onur Gönülal: methodology. Lütfiye Eryılmaz: writing, investigation, funding acquisition. Fernando P. Carvalho: writing—review and editing, validation, investigation. Murat Belivermiş: methodology, validation, investigation. Önder Kılıç: conceptualization, writing—review and editing, validation, investigation, methodology.

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Correspondence to Önder Kılıç.

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Sezer, ., Nural, E., Kesiktaş, M. et al. Po-210 activity concentrations in wild and farmed fish from the Aegean Sea and Sea of Marmara and dose assessment to consumers. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 94839–94849 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29006-6

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