Radiometric profile of foods commercialized in a high natural radiation area and cancer risk assessment through computational simulation and experimental data

The municipality of Poços de Caldas, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is designated as a high background radiation area (HBRA), owing to uranium mining activities that occurred there for thirteen years. This study examines the activity concentrations (AC) of ²²⁶Ra, ²²⁸Ra, ²²⁸Th, and ⁴⁰K in foods sold in Poços de Caldas. The findings enabled the evaluation and characterisation of the potential biological effects of gamma radiation exposure by estimating the committed effective dose (D_eff) and the related cancer risk (C_R). The Voxel Rex phantom, as described in ICRP 110 (2009), was utilized in conjunction with the MCNP 6.3 algorithm to provide a more realistic radiometric assessment of the foods. The radiometric study was performed with a Canberra HPGe detector with a relative efficiency of 30 %. The AC values for ⁴0K, ²²⁶Ra, ²²⁸Ra, and ²²⁸Th were (<15.84 to 791.76 ± 43.14), (<0.32 to 50.42 ± 1.91), (0.47 ± 0.04 to 41.58 ± 0.91), and (<0.29 to 31.95 ± 3.25) Bq kg⁻¹, respectively. No sample had a D_eff value greater than 1 mSv year⁻¹, as stated by NCNE (2024). Nineteen of the thirty-six samples evaluated had C_R values equal to or greater than the levels established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (1999) as indicators of potential public health risks. The results were validated using the Bland-Altman method, which revealed that 100 % of the acquired results were within the confidence interval when compared to the experimental trials done in this study as well as data from other studies in the literature.