210Po and 210Pb in soils and vegetables in Kucuk Menderes basin of Turkey

In this study concentrations of Po-210 and Pb-210 radionuclides in soils and vegetables collected from both cultivated and uncultivated agricultural lands of the Kucuk Menderes basin were determined. Po-210 and Pb-210 activity concentrations of vegetables collected from cultivated lands were found to be slightly higher than those collected from undisturbed lands. The activity concentrations in vegetables were detected between 0.15-9.40 Bq kg(-1) and 0.23-0.62 Bq kg(-1) for Po-210 and Pb-210, respectively. In the bulk soil cores sampled from phosphate fertilizer-applied agricultural lands, the ranges for activity concentrations of Po-210 and Pb-210 are 30.10-47.15 Bq kg(-1) and 31.27-61.53 Bq kg(-1), respectively. Po-210 and Pb-210 activity concentrations in soil cores collected from uncultivated soils were also determined for comparison. The annual effective dose equivalents to man from Po-210 and Pb-210 due to consumption of leafy vegetables are calculated to be 30.51 and 22.73 mu Sv a(-1), respectively. Likewise root vegetables give a dose equivalent of 22.89 mu Sv a(-1) from Po-210 and 44.77 mu Sv a(-1) from Pb-210. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.