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Natural Radioactivity and Committed Ingestion Effective Dose in Freshly Cultivated Rice in Some Parts of Ebonyi State, Nigeria

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Abstract

Rice is a major staple food consumed globally. Due to geology of the cultivated area, fertilizers inputs and planting cultural, radionuclides present in soil can be transfers to the rice grain. This can present some forms of health risk to human. Therefore, this study assessed the levels of natural radioactivity and committed effective dose due to 40K, 232Th and 238U in freshly harvested rice grains from three different paddy fields (F1, F2, and F3) in Ebonyi State, Nigeria using NaI(TI) gamma spectrometry. The average activity concentrations of 40K, 232Th and 238U in the sampled rice grains were measured to be 129.0 ± 13.0, 3.0 ± 1.3 and 11.7 ± 4.3 Bq kg–1 respectively in F1; 129.1 ± 18.5, 4.3 ± 1.6 and 8.5 ± 4.2 Bq kg–1 respectively in F2; and 89.2 ± 10.3, 4.5 ± 2.1 and 2.7 ± 1.0 Bq kg–1 respectively in F3. The total radioactivity content of the rice was attributed to 40K, contributing about 90% in F1 and 91% in both F2 and F3. The committed effective dose, estimated as 0.12, 0.11 and 0.06 mSv year–1 in the rice from F1, F2 and F3 respectively, together with the resulting cancer risks were within the acceptable limit for radiological risk. This indicates low chances of any radiological health threat to the general public upon consumption. Since the assessment is based on freshly harvested raw rice, concentrations of the radionuclides can still be modified during processing and cooking; thus the generated data of this study can serve as a valuable baseline for estimation of any modification as well as a vital reference data for the radiological food safety and policy framework of nuclear and radiation agencies and WHO/FAO in Nigeria and the rest of the world.

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  1. Department of Physics with Electronics, College of Science, Evangel University, Akaeze, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

    Fredrick Oghenebrorie Ugbede

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Correspondence to Fredrick Oghenebrorie Ugbede.

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Ugbede, F.O. Natural Radioactivity and Committed Ingestion Effective Dose in Freshly Cultivated Rice in Some Parts of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Chemistry Africa 5, 703–713 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42250-022-00329-0

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