Radioactivity in food in Belgrade city

Abstract

The activity concentrations of 40K, 238U, 226Ra, 232Th and 137Cs were measured using the gamma spectrometric method in different food chain samples from the area of the City of Belgrade during the periods May-June 2007 and May-June 2008. Relatively high activities of 40K and 137Cs were detected in the soil. These results indicate that 137Cs is present in the area of Belgrade even 20 years after the nuclear accident in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. However, in the samples of feedstuffs, animal products and bio indicators (meat of wild animals and fish), activity concentrations of primordial radionuclides and 137Cs were low and below the detection limits. The results of these trials have shown that investigated animal products from the natural environment around Belgrade are radioactivity safe.

Aktivnost 40K, 238U, 226Ra, 232Th i 137Cs merena je gamaspektrometrijskom metodom u različitim uzorcima hrane iz lanca ishrane u okolini Beograda tokom maja i juna 2007. i 2008. godine. Izmerene su relativno visoke aktivnosti 40K i 137Cs u zemljištu. Ovi rezultati ukazuju na to da se 137 Cs može naći u životnoj sredini Beograda čak i 20 godina nakon nuklearnog incidenta u Černobilju. Međutim, u uzorcima stočne hrane, animalnim proizvodima i bioindikatorima (mesu divljih životinja i riba), aktivnost primordijalnih radionuklida i antropogenog 137Cs je bila niska i ispod nivoa detekcije. Ispitivanja su pokazala da su animalni proizvodi proizvedeni u prigradskim opštinama grada Beograda, radiološki bezbedni za ishranu stanovništva Beograda.