137Cs and 40K in some traditional herbal teas collected in the mountain regions of Serbia |
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| Authors: | Branislava M Mitrović Svetlana N Grdović Gordana S Vitorović Duško P Vitorović Gordana K Pantelić Goran A Grubić |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Radiology and Radiation Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbiaslavatab@vet.bg.ac.rs;3. Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia;4. Department of Radiology and Radiation Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia;5. Institute of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia;6. Institute of Nuclear Science VIN?A, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia |
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| Abstract: | Herbal teas are an important part of traditional medicine in Serbia. The objective of the present study was to determine the activity concentrations of 40K and 137Cs in herbal tea, using the gamma spectroscopy method. The samples were collected during the period 2011–2012 in three mountain regions in Western and Central Serbia. The activity concentrations of 40K and 137Cs were found to be in the range of 130–1160 and 0.7–124 Bq kg?1, respectively. The average annual effective dose equivalents from ingestion of 40K and 137Cs for an adult person consuming one cup of herbal tea daily were found to be 588.4–5250.2 nSv for 40K and 4.0–706.1 nSv for 137Cs. Our investigation showed that the herbal teas originating from Maljen, Zlatibor and Tara mountains are radiologically safe for human consumption. |
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| Keywords: | cesium-137 potassium-40 radioactive contamination herbal tea Serbia |
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