Speaker
Roseline Olobatoke
(North West University, South Africa)
Description
Many food animals which are important components of human food chain are effective collectors of radionuclides from the environment particularly contaminated forages, and therefore represent a significant pathway for the transfer of radionuclides to humans. Many important radionuclides are readily transferred to milk thus the product is considered as one of the basic food items recommended for the assessment of radionuclide exposure within a population. The current study aimed at assessing the radionuclide content of commercial milk commonly sold in South Africa in other to set a baseline data for radionuclide concentration of the products. Three popular brands of commercial milk (A, B and C) were sampled, with two samples obtained for each brand. The concentration of individual radionuclide in the milk samples, particularly 131I, 137Cs and 235U was measured by gamma spectroscopy. The results showed that brand A had the highest concentrations of 235U and 137Cs (203 and 324 mBq/L respectively) but the lowest concentration of 131I (6.4 mBq/L). The highest concentration of 131I (148 mBq/L) was detected in brand B whereas both 235U and 131I were not detected in brand C. All the values however were well below the new standard limits for individual radionuclides in milk established by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. This study indicates that the commercial milk brands assessed pose no radiation health threat to the consumers.
| Country or International Organization | South Africa |
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Primary author
Roseline Olobatoke
(North West University, South Africa)
Co-author
Prof.
Manny Mathuthu
(Center for Applied Radiation Science and Technology (CARST) North West University (Mafikeng))
