Survey of natural and anthropogenic radioactivity in environmental samples from Yugoslavia

An overview of measurements of radionuclides in foods of the Comunidad Valenciana (Spain)

“…Total number of samples (n), the average value of activity (A), the standard deviation (s) and the range of values are listed. The results agree with literature data (Arogunjo, A.M., et al,2005, Bolca, M., et al, 2007, Choi, M-S., et al 2008, Esposito M., et al, 2002, Froidevaux, P., et al, 2004, Mahiban Ross, E., et al, 2013, Shanthi, G., et al, 2010. (CRC, 2003).…”

“…In addition, human activities such as industry and agriculture may also increase background level in surrounding areas. Consequently, there has been a growing interest in measuring the levels of radioactivity of both natural and induced by human activity on the environment and therefore their potential effect in humans (Abukawa J., et al, 1998, Akhter, P., et al, 2003, Arogunjo, A.M., et al,2005, Bolca, M., et al, 2007, Choi, M-S., et al 2008, Esposito M., et al, 2002, Froidevaux, P., et al, 2004, IAEA,1989, Mahiban Ross, E., et al, 2013, Shanthi, G., et al, 2010. The natural isotopes of radioactive chains ( 232 Th and 238 U) and 40 K in the earth's crust, which can also be enhanced due to human activities, and artificial isotopes present in the environment can be all of them incorporated into human through the food chain.…”

Environmental radioactivity in southern Serbia at locations where depleted uranium was used

“…Due to the low activity in the samples and to reduce the uncertainty of measurement, the samples were measured 60,000 s. The calibration of detectors for water and plant sample measurement was performed using a cylindrical polyethylene bottle of 200 mL and a plastic box of 100 mL in volume, respectively. This secondary reference material was obtained from the primary reference liquid radioactive material ( ] was used to check the efficiency calibration and the general operating parameters of the gamma spectrometry system (source positioning, contamination, library values, and energy calibration); the detector-shield background, full energy peak efficiency, peak shape, and peak drift were measured to confirm whether they were within the warning and acceptance limits; the acceptance limits were set according to the manufacturer's specifications (peak shape and drift, full energy peak efficiency) and previous experiences (detector shield background); the specific activity of the radionuclides in the samples (A) was calculated using the equation: (1) where N is count rate of the sample, t -counting time (s), P γ -probability of gamma decay (%), ef -detector efficiency (%), V and m are the volume (L) and mass (kg) of the sample.…”

“…Over the last 40 years, Europe has experienced several major radioactive fallouts, from atmospheric nuclear tests in North Africa during the 1960s, the Chernobyl accident in 1986, the Acerinox accident in 1998 to the wars in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s (1). Depleted uranium (DU) came into military use in the early 1990s and was first used in 1991 in the Gulf War (2,3).…”

“…Depleted uranium (DU) came into military use in the early 1990s and was first used in 1991 in the Gulf War (2,3). The DU used during the wars in former Yugoslavia represents the most recent source of radioactivity released into the environment, following NATO air strikes (1,(4)(5)(6). NATO and Serbian Military (VS) data on DU use are in large discordance, but overlap for at least four locations (5,6) in southern Serbia: Pljačkovica, Borovac, Bratoselce, and Reljan ( Figure 1).…”