Radionuclides are found naturally in air, water and soil. They are even found in vegetation, consumer products and in human body. Everyone on the planet is exposed to some background level of ionizing radiation through external exposures that occurs as a result of irradiation, and internal exposures that occurs as a result of ingestion and inhalation. Studies have shown that tobacco contains minute quantities of radioisotopes from uranium and thorium-decay series which are radioactive and carcinogenic. Tobacco product increases both external and internal exposure due to these radioisotopes. In fact, tobacco products have been considered to be one of the most significant causes of lung cancer. Owing to the large-scale consumption of tobacco in Nigeria at the present time, locally produced tobacco products in Nigeria were collected from the market and the naturally-occurring 238 U and 232 Th decay series, as well as non-series decay 40 K in these products were measured using γ-ray spectrometer. The radiological impacts of the radionuclides in these products were assessed from their specific activities. The average values of the absorbed dose rate were 19.72 and 17.59 nGy h-1 for snuff and cigarette products respectively. The average values of the effective doses due to daily inhalation of smoke by consumers from one wrap of snuff and one stick of cigarette products is 592.32 and 66.62 μSv yr-1 respectively. Similarly, the values of the radium equivalent activity index for snuff and cigarette samples were 40.95 and 38.95 Bq kg-1 respectively. Also the external radiation hazard index were 0.12 and 0.11 for snuff and cigarette samples respectively while the internal radiation hazard index were 0.17 and 0.15 for the two samples respectively. The average excess lifetime cancer risk (x 10-3) values for daily inhalation of smoke from one wrap of snuff and one (1) stick of cigarette were 2.07 and 0.23 x 10-3 respectively. The estimated values of some of these parameters were found to be lower than the recommended limit by UNSCEAR (2000). However, the effective dose poses a serious health risk to addicted consumers of the product when three (3) or more wraps of snuff and one (1) or more packs of cigarette products are consumed daily. The mean excess lifetime cancer risks values estimated were also much higher than the recommended limits by UNSCEAR (2000). This then makes the risk of suffering cancer and other radiation injuries to be high.
This study assesses the natural radioactivity as well as their derived health implication in locally produced palm kernel oil in Osun State, Nigeria. A total of 16 samples were collected from eight major factories in four towns in the study area. Thallium-doped sodium iodide (NaI (Tl)) scintillation detector was used to determine the activity concentration of these radionuclides and the results obtained were used to calculate radiological impact parameters. The results show that the radionuclides detected and quantified in this study came from the naturally-occurring radionuclides 238U and 232Th decay series, as well as non-series 40K. The overall mean concentrations for 40K, 232Th and 238U in all the samples were 14.68 ± 1.55, 6.03 ± 1.74 and 5.55 ± 2.09 Bq L-1, respectively. The range of measured activities in the palm kernel oil varies within the same factory which may be due to the fact that the production processes and most especially the source of the palm kernel used by the factories and nature of the soil where the palm tree is planted varied. The estimations of all radiological impact parameters were found to be lower than their respective world average values. These low values imply that the probability of suffering serious radiation hazards is low in the areas.
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