Assessment of radiation hazard indices arising from natural radionuclides content of powdered milk in Malaysia

The activity concentration of Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 were determined by gamma spectrometry in twenty-six different brands of powdered milk available in Malaysia. The measured activity concentration was then used to estimate the radiation hazard indices in term of ingestion dose and cancer risk. The total ingestion dose was found to range between 35.19 and 461.72 mu Sv y(-1) and the estimated cancer risk for adult is 1.23 x 10(-4). These results were found to be below the internationally recommended level. This indicates that the powdered milk in Malaysia would not pose any significant radiological impact to the population.