2 - Please take a look in the ICRP 82 -
Protection of the Public in situations of Prolonged Radiation Exposure.
3 Concerning IAEA doc on
Commodities
A - Radioactivity in Material not requiring Regulation
for Purposes of Radiation Protection DRAFT SAFETY GUIDE DS161, April
2002
- The activity concentrations in this document do
not apply to:
-
foodstuffs, drinking
water, animal feed and any material intended for use in food or
-
animal feed. Specific levels for drinking water are
contained in [5] and specific levels
-
for foodstuffs (applicable up to one year after an accident)
are found in [6];
-
radon, as action levels are
provided in the BSS; and
-
potassium-40 in the
body, which is already excluded from the BSS.
B - Derivation of Scope-Defining Values for Commodities,
April 2002
4) Collective Dose and Risk
Assessment from Brazil Nut Consumption
Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 67(3), pp
229-230 (1996)
G. Hiromoto, J. Oliveira, J.S. Carvalho, R. Vicente and
S.A. Bellintani
Commercial samples of Brazil nut were analysed to determine the natural
radionuclide content and to assess the radiological risk resulting from its
ingestion by members of the general public. Mean values of 1.4 ± 0.4
Bq.kg-1 for 238U, 26.3 ± 4.1 Bq.kg-1 for
226Ra, 4.7 ± 1.8 Bq.kg-1 for 210Pb, 16.5 ±
4.3 Bq.kg-1 for 232Th, 31.3 ± 6.4 Bq.kg-1 for
228Ra and 12.3 ± 5.1 Bq.kg-1 for 228Th were
found in the samples analysed. Taking into account the annual production of
Brazil nuts, the collective committed effective dose resulting from the
ingestion of nuts corresponding to one year of production is estimated to be
8.6 x 102 man.Sv. >>
Which is more than the operational doses from all the
nuclear plant in the UK.
>> 5 - About your remark
"If you were to eat a bag
of 100-200g of nuts per week" My personal problem is not
the natural radioactivity in the Brazilian Nut, however the high
calorie of this delicious nut. <<
Ain't that the
truth.
George Sallit
These views are purely my own and
do not represent those of my employer.