[ RadSafe ] Banana Equivalent Dose - erroneous?

[shima]

re http://health.phys.iit.edu/extended_archive/9503/msg00074.html

Subject: Banana Equivalent Dose


Hi, sorry to dig up such and old message but this rather humorous post 
has just dug itself up and is going viral due to current interest in all 
things radioactive and appeal of the idea.

It is also included in a more recent (2004) document that is still being 
given prominent position by U.Nevada's Environmental Health and Safety 
unit (though no explanation of the derivation is given there).

http://www.ehs.unr.edu/radiationsafety.html
http://www.ehs.unr.edu/Documents/RadSafety.pdf


As far as I can tell, this list is the origin of this calculation. In 
any case the above post certainly details how it was calculated, even if 
this is not the origin of the concept.

Could someone please state whether using the dose from exposure to K-40 
  given in FGR #11 is valid in the case of ingestion of a large mass 
(circa 500mg) of a natural mix of potassium isotopes.


Many thanks for any advice in using this data correctly.

Best regards, Shima.