ASSESSMENT OF RADIOLOGICAL HAZARD FOR VARIOUS FOOD COMMONLY USED IN REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA

Abstract

Consuming food containing radionuclides is particularly dangerous. If anyone ingests or inhales a radioactive particle, it continues to irradiate the body as long as it remains radioactive and stays in the body. However, studies on the radioactivity of consumable foods assume importance as it is necessary to estimate the ingestion dose to the public. Due to all this, the focus of this research was on determining the activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ⁴⁰K and ²³²Th. Forty-nine samples in three categories of vegetables, cereals (rice, wheat, corn), and milk, were collected from local markets (city of Skopje) in the Republic of North Macedonia and they were analyzed by using high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector to assess natural and artificial radioactivity. The average activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ⁴⁰K and ²³²Th of the tested samples were 2.85±1.15, 2.48±0.85, and 80.64±5.45 Bq kg^-1, respectively. No artificial radionuclide was found in any of these samples. The average value of the radium equivalent activity in all samples was 12.56 Bq kg^-1, which was less than the maximum permitted value of 370 Bq kg^-1. The values ​​of the external hazard indices for vegetables, cereals and milk samples vary with an average value of 0.11, which is less than one in all samples indicating the non-harmfulness of the samples. The mean activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ⁴⁰K and ²³²Th (Bq kg^-1) in the samples were used to calculate the absorbed dose rate whose mean value for all food samples was 6.16 Bq kg^-1. It was determined that the measured values are within the globally accepted values, i.e., they are quite lower than the data in literature. These data would be useful to establish a baseline for natural radioactivity concentrations in food products consumed in the Republic of North Macedonia.