[ RadSafe ] Radiation detectors at ports

[Michael McNaughton]

There are some misunderstanding about K-40 and bananas:
a) every living cell of any organism contains ~ 1 pCi/g of K-40;
b) the concentration in bananas is about twice the concentration in most 
plants, and is about the same as in mammals;
c) in most of the US, the soil usually has a higher concentration of K-40 
than either bananas or animals, in which case bananas will shield more 
gammas than they produce.

So bananas are not likely to cause an increase in a radiation detector.

mike

At 10:57 AM 12/27/2005, you wrote:
>  There are several products that cause detectors to register.  One is any
>fruit that contains potassium (Potassium-40) such as bananas.



Mike McNaughton
Los Alamos National Lab.
email: mcnaught at LANL.gov or mcnaughton at LANL.gov
phone: 505-667-6130; page: 505-664-7733