Gamma Ray Spectroscopic Analysis in infants' milk powder Consumed in Saudi Arabia, Qassim Province, Buraidah.

Abstract

Infants' milk powder can be used in many countries because it contains vitamins, proteins and minerals, which are essential to grow infants. Therefore, the main objectives of this study were to measure the natural radionuclides concentrations (226Ra, 232Th, and 40K). Gamma ray Spectroscopy, NaI(Tl) detector was used for measuring the radionuclides concentrations of 15 brands for new born till six months. The average radionuclides concentrations were 2.1±0.04 BqKg-1, 1.6±0.03 BqKg-1 and 111.1±0.5 BqKg-1 for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K respectively. The average and range of the effective dose due to annual intake from infants' milk powder were estimated to be 75.1(19.8-109.5) μSvy-1, 27.5(1.9-40.3) μSvy-1 and 177.4(57.8-247.2) μSvy-1 for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K respectively. These values were lower than the recommended limit determined by ICRP-60, IAEA-152 and UNSCEAR. The comparison was obtained between our results and other published papers in different countries. The resulting data may serve as base-line levels of activity concentration in powdered milk in the area of study.