ASSESSING SOIL-TO-PLANT TRANSFER FACTOR OF NATURAL RADIONUCLIDEES IN FOUR POPULAR NIGERIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS.
Abstract: The utilization of medicinal plants for the prevention and treatment of common diseases in Nigeria has seen a steady increase over time. However, these plants may pose a risk of internal radiological contamination if their radionuclide content is elevated. In this research, we assessed the activity concentration of three naturally occurring radionuclides, namely 238U, 232Th, and 40K, in both the soil and edible parts of four widely used medicinal plants cultivated in Nigeria. Additionally, we investigated the soil-to-plant transfer factors for these radionuclides.
The selected medicinal plants for this study were Moringa oleifera, Zingiber officinale, Indian saffron, and Ageratum conyzoides. A gamma spectrometric analysis, utilizing a well-calibrated HpGe detector, was employed to measure the specific activity concentration of 238U, 232Th, and 40K in both the plants and the corresponding cultivated soil.
The measured activity concentration of 238U in the farm soil ranged from 23.513 ± 3.527 Bq kg-1 to 58.984 ± 8.847 Bq kg-1, while 232Th ranged from 33.455 ± 5.018 Bq kg-1 to 63.735 ± 9.560 Bq kg-1, and 40K ranged from 336.669 ± 50.500 Bq kg-1 to 729.451 ± 109.417 Bq kg-1. Among the medicinal plants, the activity concentration of 40K ranged from 1.70 ± 0.26 Bq kg-1 to 239.77 ± 30.95 Bq kg-1, with an average value of 89.64 ± 10.15 Bq kg-1. Moringa oleifera exhibited the highest activity concentration of 40K, while Indian saffron showed the lowest.
For 238U, the activity ranged from 10.37 ± 1.56 Bq kg-1 to 1.34 ± 0.20 Bq kg-1, with an average value of 4.62 ± 0.66 Bq kg-1. Moringa oleifera had the lowest activity concentration, whereas Ageratum conyzoides had the highest. Regarding 232Th, activity ranged from 4.621 ± 0.693 Bq kg-1 to 13.752 ± 2.063 Bq kg-1, with an average value of 8.18525 ± 1.177091667 Bq kg-1. Indian saffron displayed the lowest activity concentration, whereas Moringa oleifera had the highest.
Furthermore, we observed that 232U was higher in Goat weed, Ginger, and Turmeric compared to 232Th and 40K. Additionally, for both 232Th and 40K, leaf samples exhibited the highest activity concentrations compared to 238U.
The average transfer factors for 238U, 232Th, and 40K were found to be 0.09, 0.19, and 0.20 for Moringa oleifera; 0.49, 0.40, and 0.31 for Ageratum conyzoides; 0.45, 0.17, and 0.29 for Zingiber officinale; and 0.24, 0.15, and 0.06 for Indian saffron, respectively. These findings provide valuable insights into the radionuclide content of commonly used medicinal plants in Nigeria and their potential impact on human health.
ASSESSING SOIL-TO-PLANT TRANSFER FACTOR OF NATURAL RADIONUCLIDEES IN FOUR POPULAR NIGERIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. GET MORE, ACTUARIAL SCIENCE PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS