210Po and 210Pb variations in fish species from the Aegean Sea and the contribution of 210Po to the radiation dose

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the significance of natural radionuclides, particularly 210Po, in the marine environment. 210Po, a naturally occurring alpha emitter, accumulates in marine organisms and reflects differences in their diets. In the literature, there is no data for 210Po and 210Pb activity concentrations for fish species on the Turkish coast of Aegean Sea. Therefore, in this study, multiple fish species were collected from six stations seasonally on the Turkish coast of Aegean Sea and were analyzed for their 210Po and 210Pb content. The 210Po and 210Pb concentrations in the fish samples were found to vary from undetectable levels to 499 ± 44 Bq kg−1 dry weight (dw) and from 1.0 ± 0.3 Bq kg−1 to 35 ± 4.0 Bq kg−1 (dw), respectively. There were no significant differences in the activity concentrations of 210Po and 210Pb in fish samples between seasons (ANOVA, P > 0.05). The highest dose contribution of 210Po to humans was calculated to be 10,530 μSv year−1.