Measurement of gross alpha radioactivity levels and estimation of annual effective dose in hazelnut kernels

Abstract

The present study investigates gross alpha (GA) radioactivity levels in hazelnut kernels purchased from markets in Türkiye. 10 different hazelnut samples were crushed and made ready for counting. The alpha counts were obtained via ELSEC 7286 low level alpha counter with ZnS scintillator and EMI 6097B photomultiplier tube. The samples were placed in front of the detector to acquire the counts. All samples were counted isochronously. In addition to the GA activity measurement, total annual effective dose (AED) value for different age groups owing to ingestion was calculated for each sample. It was observed that the GA radioactivity levels in the samples were quite low, and total AED values were considerably lower than the WHO worldwide average AED value (290 μSv/year).