Radiological dose from seafood ingestion; a global summary from 40 years of study

Abstract

Seafood is an important source for meeting future global nutrient demands. However, it also contributes disproportionately to the radiological ingestion dose of more than five billion world consumers– up to ∼70%–80% of the total-foods dose in some countries. Although numerous studies report seafood doses in specific populations, there is still no comprehensive evaluation answering basic questions such as “what is the ingestion dose to the average global seafood consumer?” Analysis of 238 worldwide seafood dose estimates suggests that typical adult consumers receive from 0.13 to 0.21 mSv, with a likely best estimate of 0.15 mSv per annual seafood intake. Those consuming large amounts of seafood, particularly bivalves, may experience ingestion doses exceeding 1 mSv per annual intake, surpassing other routine background dose sources. The published studies suggest that doses of 3 mSv or greater are surpassed in about 150 million adult seafood consumers worldwide. Almost all this dose comes from the natural radionuclides that are prevalent in marine systems–especially ²¹⁰Po. While trace levels of anthropogenic radionuclides are ubiquitous in seafoods (e.g.,¹³⁷Cs and ²³⁹Pu), the added dose from these is typically orders of magnitude lower. Even following the large-scale releases from the Fukushima accident, with food safety controls in place, the additional dose to consumers in Japan was small relative to routine dose from natural background radionuclides. However, the worldwide seafood dose estimates span seven orders of magnitude, indicating a need for an assessment that integrates global seafood radionuclide data as well as incorporating changes in seafood consumption and production patterns.