Radionuclide content and state of isotopic disequilibrium in some utilized smoking pastes

Abstract

238 U, 234 U, 226 Ra, 210 Pb and 210 Po were measured in some jurak and mehassel samples collected from the local market. Jurak is a paste mixture composed of 30% tobacco, 50% molasses and 20% spices and minced fruits.Mehassel is a local trade-name of a paste mixture of unknown ratios of tobacco to spices and minced fruits. Both jurak and mehassel are used for smoking by Shisha (a pipe used for smoking and has a water filter). Just for comparison, these radionuclides were measured in some cigarette tobacco samples. In cigarette tobacco samples, the average activity concentrations were 0.32 ± 0.10, 0.51 ± 0.11, 3.6 ± 1.0, 16.1 ± 2.4 and 15.8 ± 2.2 Bq/kg for 238 U, 234 U, 226 Ra, 210 Pb and 210 Po, respectively. These values for the same isotopes were 1.01 ± 0.25, 1.04 ± 0.27, 1.2 ± 0.4, 4.4 ± 1.0 and 4.2±0.9 Bq/kg in jurak samples and 0.17±0.07, 0.24± 0.08, 1.8 ± 0.7, 7.5 ± 1.7 and 7.0 ± 1.6 Bq/kg in mehassel samples, respectively. Generally, the mean values of the results indicated that, except for uranium in jurak, the activity concentration for all the analyzed radionuclides in the different samples followed the sequence: 210 Po ≈ 210 Pb > 226 Ra ≫ 234 U > 238 U, whereas for each radionuclide, its activity concentration followed the sequence: cigarette tobacco > mehassel > jurak. Molasses contributed to the enhanced uranium content in jurak samples. The obtained results are discussed in detail.