Author(s)

Thomas B. Makon, Robert Martin Nemba, Pascal Tchokossa

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Department of Physics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

The specific activity concentration and the derived Annual Effective Dose(AED) in three types of vernonia cultivated and consumed within and outside Cameroon were measured by means of a well-calibrated high-purity germanium detector. Vernonia samples were collected directly from the production farms, oven-dried to a constant mass, crushed, sieved and sealed for at least a month before analysis. The specific activity of ²³⁸U in the three types of vernonia ranged from 20 - 50 Bq kg^-1 with an average of 42 ± 15 Bq kg^-1, ²³²Th from 9 - 22 Bq kg^-1 with an average of 17 ± 7 Bq kg^-1 while ⁴⁰K ranged from 115 - 460 Bq kg^-1 with an average of 302 ± 36 Bq kg^-1. The average AED for ⁴⁰K, ²³⁸U and ²³²Th were 0.15, 0.92 and 0.92μSv y^-1 respectively. ²³⁸U and ²³²Th show the same trends both for the regional distribution of the radioactivity content and the AED. The discrepancies in our data can be attributed to many factors such as geological formation, foliar deposition, type and age of the plant, etc. Although the results obtained represent only some fractions of the standard limit, but they are within some range obtained in other countries.

Radionuclides, Specific Activity, Dose, Vernonia, Gamma-Ray, Cameroon

T. Makon, R. Nemba and P. Tchokossa, "Investigation of Gamma-Emitting Natural Radioactive Contents in Three Types of Vernonia Consumed in Cameroon," World Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, Vol. 1 No. 2, 2011, pp. 37-45. doi: 10.4236/wjnst.2011.12007.