Assessment of Natural Radioactivity Level and Annual Effective Dose of Amber Rice Samples Cultivated in the South of Iraq

¹ Al-Kitab University, Kirkuk, Republic
² Al-Nahrain University, Baghdad, Iraq

^* Corresponding author: ars.younis@gmail.com

Abstract

In this work, the activity concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive material including ²³⁸U, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K were measured of some amber rice samples cultivated in southern Baghdad and Al Najaf governorate and used in Baghdad governorate, Iraq in 2018, using gamma-ray spectrometer with NaI (Tl) detector. The results show that the activity concentrations for ²³⁸U ranged from (2.68 to 10.81) Bq/kg with average 5.94 Bq/kg, ²³²Th ranged from (B.D.L to 3.37) Bq/kg with average 2.65 Bq/kg, and for ⁴⁰K ranged from (4.48 to 35.7) Bq/kg with average 16.84 Bq/kg. The annual effective dose from rice consumption by adults for ²³⁸U, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K ranged from (0.41 to 1.6) x10-5 Sv/y with average 0.9 x10^-5 Sv/y, (B.D.L to 0.42) x10-5 Sv/y with average 0.2 x10^-5 Sv/y, and (0.17 to 1.2) x10^-5 Sv/y with average 0.45 x10-5 Sv/y respectively. All values of the average specific activities are less than the global average values of ICRP, and the annual effective dose from rice consumption by adults was lower than the permissible limit of (1 m Sv/y) recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.