Concentration of 210Po in vegan diet foods commercialized in Italy and dose calculation

Ingestion of food and drink is one of the main routes by which radioactive elements in the environment enter the human body, which is why it is essential to know the concentration of the most significant naturally occurring and anthropogenic radionuclides in the diet. The radionuclide that is the subject of this work is 210 Po, a radionuclide whose radiotoxicity is comparable to that of 239 Pu and is about five times greater than that of 226 Ra. To date, natural and artificial radioactivity has been measured in various foodstuffs in Italy. However, there needs to be more sufficient data concerning the vegan diet. This particular diet excludes all foods of animal origin, which is becoming increasingly popular. According to Eurispes' Italy 2021 Report, it has been estimated that 2,4 % of the Italian population follows a vegan diet. The first objective of this work was to complete previous alpha spectrometry measurement campaigns of 210 Po carried out by the same research group on typical foods of the vegan diet (legumes, cereals, and their derivatives, pseudocereals, algae, and spices) to contribute to more comprehensive databases. The second objective was calculating the committed effective dose resulting from one year of food consumption, using the concentration data obtained in the analyzed samples. The concentration values obtained ranged from a minimum of 0,069 ± 0,051 Bq kg -1 in cereal and legume products to a maximum of 3,89 ± 2,79 Bq kg -1 in algae. The committed effective dose for the average adult related to the consumption of these foods was 67,7 μSv y -1 . • Evaluation of 210 Po activity in vegan diet foods from leading Italian supermarkets • Comparison between the obtained committed effective dose in the vegan diet and that of the omnivorous diet • The vegan adult receives a committed effective dose due to 210 Po lower than omnivorous • The committed effective dose for vegan represents about 2,2% of internal natural radiation exposure