Background: Tea is one of the most popular beverages all over the world which is prepared from the leaves of a shrub camellia sinensis. Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey which account for around 100% of all tea production in Turkey was among the areas contaminated by Chernobyl accident. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive study was planned and carried out to determine the level of gross α and β radioactivity and annual effective dose equivalent in different Turkish market tea using LSC. Results: The average measurements for digestion and infusion are 5.0 mBql^-1 and 1.8 mBql^-1 for gross α, 80.7 mBql^-1 and 9.0 mBql^-1 for gross β in tea samples. Contributions of the infusion tea samples to total annual effective dose equivalent from ²³⁸U, ²³⁴U, ²³⁰Th, ²²⁶Ra, ²¹⁰Po, ²³²Th, ²³⁸Th, ²¹⁰Pb and ²²⁸Ra are 0.103, 0.112, 0.480, 0.640, 2.742, 0.525, 0.164, 7.740 and 7.740 μSvy^-1 for adults. Conclusion: The obtained results showed that natural activity concentrations of α- and β-emitting radionuclides and annual effective dose equivalent in tea samples did not exceed WHO recommended levels. Iran. J. Radiat. Res., 2012 10(2): 67‐72

Keywords: Gross α, gross β, activity, tea, effective dose equivalent

Full-Text [PDF 319 kb]   (3542 Downloads)