Trace elements are required by human body and have a variety role in biochemical functions mostly as catalyst for enzymatic activity in human body. Some trace elements are essential since they are inadequately or not synthesized by human body. The deficiency or excess of those essential trace element may cause disease and be deleterious to health. Since food is the primary source of essential elements for humans and it is an important source of exposure to toxic elements either, the levels of trace elements in consumed food products must be determined. The determination of trace elements content in foodstuffs widely consumed in Bandung city were conducted to assess their daily intake and contribution to the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) values. Food samples were collected from traditional markets spread across five regions of the Bandung city and analyzed using neutron activation analysis (NAA). Quality control of data analysis was assessed using SRM NIST 1567a Wheat Flour and 1568a Rice Flour and gave good results with % recovery, 93.2 -104.8%; and %CV, 3.8-11.6%. A large variability of essential trace elements concentration in all types of foods analyzed were observed. The daily intake of Cr, Co, Mn, Se and Zn were supplied enough by the diet, except for Fe which found that almost all the foods analyzed were not give a satisfying contribution to the RDA value of Fe. These result were expected could provide information of nutritional status of the society and can be a reference for government and related institution to effectively making policies and solution for public health improvement.

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The use of human hair as a tool in assessing changes and abnormalities in human bodies has been increasing for last decades since it may reflect the health status or environmental condition of habitation or working place of individuals as well as population groups. Compared to other body tissue or fluids, hair provides an ease of elemental analysis especially in reflecting the long-term exposure. This research was conducted to determine the elemental content especially heavy metals, since they are bioaccumulated in human body organs and impact human health, in hair of workshop workers and traffic services officers as exposed groups and its comparison with control group and references data for assessing of occupational exposure. Thirty-five automotive workshop workers and 32 traffic services officers' hair specimens were collected in Bandung, while hair specimens of the control group were collected from 43 healthy individuals. The elemental concentrations in hair specimen were analyzed using neutron activation analysis (NAA) for mercury and chromium, and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) for lead and arsenic. The accuracy of the method was evaluated using GBW 07601 human hair certified reference material (CRM) and it was found to give good results in accordance with the certificate values. It was found that chromium, lead, and arsenic hair concentration in exposed groups (0.88, 10.7, and 0.051 mg/kg, respectively) were higher than in control group (0.27, 4.52, and 0.045 mg/kg, respectively), while mercury hair concentration of traffic services officers were higher than control group but mercury hair concentration of automotive workshop workers were lower than in control group (1.41 mg/kg). The t-test statistical results shown that mercury concentrations in one exposed group did not differ significantly from the control, but other exposed groups showed otherwise. The level of mercury in hair is strongly attributed not only to environmental exposure, but also to lifestyle and dietary habits, while t-test statistical results of chromium and lead differ significantly with p value < 0.05. These results indicate that heavy metal hair concentrations were well quantified to show the abnormalities of elemental concentration in human hair for evaluating the occupational exposure.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the staple food for more than half of the world's population and a major source of essential minerals. Essential minerals such as cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), selenium (Se), and zinc (Zn) play an important role in metabolism and physiological function. Information of rice micronutrient and its content quality in Indonesia is limited; however, its availability is important for estimating the daily intake of the nutrients and its contribution to the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). The research aimed to determine the micronutrient content in rice from twelve regions in West Java by means of neutron activation analysis (NAA) and estimate the nutrient intake from rice. The samples were irradiated with thermal neutron flux of 10 13 n/(cm 2 s) at the rabbit system facilites of the G.A. Siwabessy multipurpose reactor, then counted using a HPGe detector. The contents of Co, Cr, Fe, Se, and Zn in rice were found to be in the ranges of 0.003 to 0.220, ≤0.001-0.679, ≤0.060-18.36, ≤0.020-0.975, and 8.558-28.83 mg/kg respectively. The daily intakes of Co and Cr were found generally sufficient, while Fe, Se, and Zn intakes were significantly less than the RDA in almost all regions observed. The exception was found for Se intake in Garut which exceeded its RDA. It can be concluded that rice is the main contributor of essential minerals intake; however, for nutritional fulfillment of human body, a balanced varied diet should be taken into consideration.

Laboratorium Pusat Teknologi Nuklir Bahan dan Radiometri mengikuti kegiatan interkomparasi IAEA tahun 2011. Sampel uji yaitu sedimen dengan kode IAEA 457. Metode uji meliputi Analisis Aktivasi Neutron (AAN) dan X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF). Dilakukan perbandingan metode AAN dan XRF untuk mengevaluasi kinerja masing-masing metode dan mengetahui kesesuaian kedua metode tersebut dalam analisis unsur pada sampel interkomparasi IAEA. Evaluasi kinerja masing-masing metode dilakukan dengan uji akurasi dan perhitungan z-score sedangkan kesesuaian metode diuji dengan uji t-berpasangan. Hasil analisis sampel menggunakan AAN diidentifikasi enam unsur Al, Fe, Cr, Co, Mn dan Zn sedangkan XRF diidentifikasi delapan unsur Al, Fe, Cr, Co, Cu, Mn, Pb dan Zn. Hasil uji akurasi pada AAN, unsur Al dan Fe kurang memuaskan sedangkan pada XRF unsur Co memiliki hasil yang kurang baik. Hasil perhitungan z-score, hampir semua unsur memberikan hasil yang memuaskan kecuali Al menggunakan metode AAN. Uji t-berpasangan yang dilakukan pada hasil analisis sedimen menggunakan AAN dan XRF memberikan hasil t-hitung < t-tabel, artinya tidak ada perbedaan hasil analisis antara kedua metode. Hasil tersebut menunjukkan bahwa metode AAN dan XRF dapat saling melengkapi untuk analisis unsur pada sampel IAEA 457. Secara umum, kedua hasil analisis unsur menunjukkan kesesuaian yang baik sehingga memperkuat validitas hasil analisis sampel interkomparasi IAEA.

Street vended foods are ready to eat foods sold by the vendors in the street and easily found in the school surrounding area. The availability and affordability of street vended foods made it widely consumed by large of population include children, especially when it is packaged attractively. Unfortunately, the safety of street vended foods especially related to the heavy metal contaminant is still unknown. Therefore, assessing the heavy metal level of street vended foods that widely consumed by children need to carried out. A number of 24 street vended food samples were collected in four elementary school surrounding area in Bandung city. The determination of heavy metal content in this food samples was conducted by neutron activation analysis and atomic absorption spectrometry as well. The quality of analytical results was evaluated using Standard Reference Material (SRM) NIST 1548a Typical Diet and 1567a Wheat Flour. Compare to the maximum permissible limit established by Indonesian Food and Drug Control Agency (BPOM), it was found that Cu, Hg and Zn concentration of street vended foods were below their maximum permissible limit. However, health risk assessment through Hazard Index (HI) formulation indicated that children in Bandung city may possess non-carcinogenic health risk due to heavy metals from the consumption of several street vended foods since the HI value are in the range of 0.06 – 2.32 with more than 10% of the foods observed were have HI > 1. These may be harmful situation to the children health. Further supervision of the preparation and handling of the vended foods are needed and guidance about the importance of hygiene and quality of vended foods to the vendors need to be improved.

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