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Application of k 0-INAA for the determination of essential and toxic elements in medicinal plants from West Pokot County, Kenya

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Abstract

The k 0-INAA has been applied for determining nineteen elements in six medicinal plants used to cure various diseases in West Pokot, Kenya. It was observed that some elements are accumulated in excessive amount by the tested plants. Care has to be taken to control the daily dose of these herbs. Reference materials (IAEA-155 and IAEA-V-10) were analyzed simultaneously with the samples to evaluate the accuracy of the analysis protocol. It was found that the measured elemental concentrations were in a good agreement with the reported values with a maximum deviation of 20%.

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Acknowledgement

The authors wish to express my sincere gratitude to the International Atomic Agency for its financial support of the current work under the umbrella of AFRA project RAF9056—“Strengthening Education and Training in Radiation Safety and Sustaining Human Resources Development and Nuclear Knowledge Management (AFRA)”. Thanks also go to the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority for preparation and analysis of the samples and for availing the reactor and spectroscopy equipment that were used in the irradiation and measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear and Radiation Engineering, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt

    Rotich A. Benson, Mohammed Hassan & Mohsen A. Abou Mandour

  2. Egypt Second Research Reactor, Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo, Egypt

    Nader M. A. Mohamed & Mohamed Soliman

Authors
  1. Rotich A. Benson
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  2. Nader M. A. Mohamed
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  3. Mohamed Soliman
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  4. Mohammed Hassan
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  5. Mohsen A. Abou Mandour
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Correspondence to Mohamed Soliman.

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Benson, R.A., Mohamed, N.M.A., Soliman, M. et al. Application of k 0-INAA for the determination of essential and toxic elements in medicinal plants from West Pokot County, Kenya. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 314, 23–29 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-017-5370-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-017-5370-3

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