Assessment of radiation hazards linked to lo-salt consumption in Kurdistan Region-Iraq

Abstract

The current study involves 35 salt samples, including naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) and its potential impact on public health. In Kurdistan-Iraq, retail outlets offer samples of both local and imported products. Samples consist of iodized salt, Himalayan pink salt (pink rock salt), lo-salt (less sodium salt), and sea salt. Assessment is conducted about the radiological risk associated with salt consumption, emphasizing internal exposure dose. The XRF spectrometer and gamma spectroscopy analysis (HPGe) are in use. For the radionuclides ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th, the salt sample ranged from 0.4 ± 0.1 to 14.2 ± 2.3 and 0.9 ± 0.1 to 36.1 ± 1.4 Bq kg⁻¹, respectively. The maximum activity level of ⁴⁰K was discovered to be 45936 ± 8223 Bq kg⁻¹ in the salt sample labeled S9, which was originally from the UK and included less sodium. Nevertheless, the sample, iodized white table salt, coded S35 (from Turkey), recorded the lowest values at 65.6 ± 4.8 Bq kg⁻¹. It was noted that the NORM content range varied significantly among the salt samples. In contrast, the average radioactivity concentration ranges in salt samples exceeded the average range of the permissible values in the world by UNSCEAR for ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K, at 45 and 412 Bq kg⁻¹, respectively. The annual effective dose of 767 and 549 μSv $y^{-1}$ would be the result of consuming the lo salt samples S9 and S10, respectively, assuming a daily salt intake of 6.4 g for adults. This exceeds the recommended level of effective 290 μSv $y^{-1}$, which is equivalent to (1 mSv $y^{-1}$) for members of the general public. Samples of lo-salt less sodium (S9) and Himalayan pink salt (S12) were found to contain lead levels of 21.6 and 20.4 PPM (mg kg⁻¹), respectively, which exceeded the national maximum contamination standard established by Food Standards Contamination and Codex. The daily salt consumption for people is assumed to be 6.4 g d⁻¹. Potential risks of radiation exposure should be addressed in food legislation to mitigate the risk to public health.