en Radiation Biology Radiation Biology تحقيق بديع Original Research <span style="font-weight: bold">Background:</span> Due to the presence of radioactive minerals such as monazite, the beach sand of the west coast of Kanyakumari exhibits high natural background radiation. Hair is a good indicator of radionuclides in the human body. An attempt is taken to measure the ²¹⁰Po activity in human hair samples and the factors affecting it. <span style="font-weight: bold">Material and Methods:</span> ²¹⁰Po activity was analysed in 47 individuals including males and females living in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India. The activities were measured using a Nucleonix® Radiation Counting System (RC 605A). <span style="font-weight: bold">Results:</span> The activity was in the range of 9.89 ± 4.43 to 58.85 ± 6.27 milli Becquerel per gram. ²¹⁰Po activity was observed in the hair samples when compared to the global values were comparatively higher. <span style="font-weight: bold">Conclusion: </span>Hair samples obtained from the users of home-made and medicinal oil had higher concentration of ²¹⁰Po compared to that of people using branded oils. These high values may be attributed to the hair oil usage and this is a topic of interest for future studies. Iran. J. Radiat. Res., 2011 9(1): 41-47 210Po, human hair, indicator, cosmetics, accumulation. 41 47 http://ijrr.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-383&slc_lang=en&sid=1 C.R. Rathi 790031947532846002224 790031947532846002224 No E.M. Ross 790031947532846002225 790031947532846002225 No S.G. Wesley godwinwesley@yahoo.com 790031947532846002226 790031947532846002226 Yes