Abstract:

The 226Ra, 228Ra, 232Th, 4°K and 137Cs contents were determined for one year in edible and inedible parts of Scylla serrata from Chakaria Sundarban area of Bangladesh coastal water. One factor ANOVA showed the significant differences of radionuclide concentrations in edible and inedible parts of S. serrata at 1% level (diff. for 226Ra, F = 66.524, df = 23, P = 0.0001; 228Ra, F = 86.44, df = 23, P = 0.0001; 232Th, F = 80.01, df = 23, P = 0.0001 and 4°K, F = 21.593, df = 23, P = 0.0001). The 226Ra concentration varied from 1.49 ± 0.09 to 3.69 ± 0.18 Bq kg–1 in edible portions of S. serrata in fresh weight (fw), with highest value recorded in November and the lowest in April. The 226Ra activities of S. serrata in inedible parts ranged from 4.19 ± 0.41 to 12.50 ± 0.95 Bq kg–1 fw and the maximum value was found in June, minimum in April. The 228Ra concentration ranged between 2.45 ± 0.11 and 5.76 ± 0.25 Bq kg–1 fw and the maximum concentration in edible parts was in January and minimum in June. The concentrations of 228Ra ranged between 7.99 ± 0.54 and 18.77 ± 0.96 Bq kg–1 fw in the inedible parts, the maximum concentration in January and minimum in June. The activity of 232Th varied between 2.34 ± 0.10 and 6.40 ± 0.25 Bq kg–1 fw as observed highest in January and lowest range during July in edible parts. The 232Th varied between 9.96 ± 0.87 and 27.21 ± 1.21 Bq kg–1 fw in the inedible parts and highest was found in January and lowest in July. The 4°K content from the edible portion was found 65.35 ± 2.04 to 164.40 ± 3.91 Bq kg–1 fw, the highest value was recorded in July and lowest was in January. The 4°K activity was found 115.02 ± 2.99 to 287.37 ± 5.06 Bq kg–1 fw in inedible parts of S. serrata and highest concentration was found in July and lowest in January. The concentration of 137Cs was below detection level in both edible and inedible parts. Correlation analyzes showed a positive relationship between 228Ra and 232Th (r = 0.821, P = 0.01, N = 10); and negative correlation with 228Ra and 4°K (r = – 0.646, P = 0.01, N = 10) and as well as 232Th and 4°K (r = – 0.574, P = 0.01, N = 10). The total annual effective dose equivalent was 39.72 mSv yr–1. This study is the first on radionuclide concentrations in S. serrata in Asian countries. Therefore, this result is a useful information regarding human consumption of mud crab.

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Date 2004/09/01

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