Radiological assessment and dose evaluation from natural radionuclides in common pasta

In this study, the specific activities of the radionuclides ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K, and ¹³⁷Cs in popular pasta samples were measured. The risk indices of the annual effective dose received (AED) and the permitted consumption rate (CR) were calculated.12 samples of pasta were collected from the food stores of Arak city. The specific activities of the mentioned radionuclides were measured by gamma-ray spectrometry using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector with a relative efficiency of 80%. The specific activities of radionuclides ranged from the minimum detectable activity (MDA) to 2.55 for ²²⁶Ra, from MDA to 19.84 for ²³²Th, and from 44.3 to 88.2 for ⁴⁰K in Bq/kg. The specific activity of ¹³⁷Cs for all samples was ≤ MDA (0.88 Bq/kg). The average values for annual effective dose and allowed consumption rate were calculated as 9.31 µSv/y and 491 kg/y. The results indicate that the radiological parameters for the analyzed pasta samples are well below international safety limits, suggesting no significant radiological health risk to consumers.