Determination of 210Po in various foodstuffs and its annual effective dose to inhabitants of Qena City, Egypt Original Research Article

The concentration of 210Po was determined in different foodstuffs of plant origin purchased from markets in Qena City, Upper Egypt. Measurement of 210Po has been carried out using alpha spectrometry technique in different food categories such as vegetables, fruits, cereals beverages and herbs. The general range of 210Po activity levels ranged widely from < 0.010–18.6 ± 0.910 mBq g− 1, with minimum being in cereal samples and maximum being in beverage samples. Tea samples recorded highest activity concentrations of 210Po with lowest value of 10 ± 0.54 mBq g−1 for Crown tea and highest value of 18.6 ± 0.910 mBq g−1 for El maabad tea. The daily intake of 210Po from food consumption reveals that vegetables are the biggest contributors, while beverages are the lowest. The effective ingestion dose has been estimated for Qena City residents and it was found in the range 0.008–38.3 μSv y−1.