226Ra, 228Ra and 40K Concentrations in Some Plant Seeds Consumed in Jordan

Eleven types of seeds consumed by Jordanian people were investigated to determine the concentration levels of 226Ra, 228Ra and 40K radionuclides. The calculated concentration ranges from 0.214 ± 0.017 to 7.583 ± 0.592 Bq/kgdry, 10.629 ± 0.914 Bq/kgdry and 92.0 ± 7.61 to 576 ± 46.22 Bq/kgdry for 226Ra, 228Ra and 40K, respectively. The total annual effective dose that resulted from consuming the selected seeds by ingestion was 35.17 μSv/year, whereas the cancer risk ranges between 1.58×10-6 from fennel and 23.53×10^-6 due to beans. However, the average cancer risk value was 7.74×10-6, which is less than the world average cancer risk value 3mSv/year.