| Research Abstract |
Global contamination by radioactive nuclides was caused by the Chernobyl accident which occurred in April 1986. Contamination in the environment has been studied by many researchers in the years since the accident. We have made several studies in the Ukraine, from the viewpoints of radiation protection, nutrition and public health. In such studies, the relationships of radioactive and non-radioactive nuclides in food chains are important for understanding their environmental behaviors. Therefore, it is necessary to collect information on dietary mineral intakes to quantify the background level in Ukrainian subjects. However, such data for Ukrainians are not well documented.
In this research, approximately 300 whole diet samples and main foodstuffs (milk, potato etc.) were collected from all 25 regions of the Ukraine. Cesium-137, ^<134>Cs, and ^<40>K were measured by γ-spectrometry. Barium, Bi, Br, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, I, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Rb, Sr, Tl, Zn, ^<137>Cs, ^<40>K, ^<232>T
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h, and ^<238>U were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) or inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).
Daily intakes in Ukrainians were estimated as follows : Ba 0.51mg ; Bi 0.37μg ; Br 3.0mg ; Ca 0.70g ; Cd 8.0μg ; Co 9.7μg ; Cr 0.11mg ; Cs 3.8μg ; Cu 0.70mg ; Fe 7.9mg ; I 45μg ; K 2.9g ; Mg 0.25g ; Mn 2.3mg ; Na 4.1g ; P 0.99g ; Pb 33μg ; Rb 2.2mg ; Sr 1.9mg ; Tl 0.37μg ; Zn 6.6mg ; ^<137>Cs 0.5-570Bq ; ^<40>K 90Bq ; ^<232>Th 2.1mBq ; and ^<238>U 12mBq. Three radionuclides (^<60>Co, ^<134>Cs, and ^<226>Ra) were detected in some diet samples and these daily intakes were ND-0.28Bq, ND-0.59mBq, and ND-11mBq, respectively. The Ukrainian nuclide intakes were compared with those of Japanese subjects, worldwide reported values, and Reference Man. The intakes of Br, Cu, I, Mn, and Zn in Ukrainians were lower than those of Japanese and worldwide reported values. Correlations of the element intake were also checked. High correlation factors over 0.500 (p<0.001)) were found between the element pairs, e.g. Ca-P, Ca-Sr, Cu-Fe, Cu-Mg, Cu-Mn, Mg-Na, Mg-P, Mg-Zn, Mg-Cu, Mg-K, Na-K, P-Zn, and P-Br. There are possibilities that these pair elements behave in the same manner in food chains. This result was confirmed as reliable data by Ukrainian scientists. The results should be a useful database in future work, e.g., determining countermeasures after accidents, doing nutrition and health studies and so on in Ukraine. Less
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