Koncentracija aktivnosti prirodnih radionuklida u hrani za piliće u Republici Sjevernoj Makedoniji

The care of radioactivity level in animal feed is very important, as ingestion is one of the most common ways radionuclides enter living organisms. Thus, since humans consume products of animal origin (eggs and poultry, milk and beef), it is important to monitor radiation levels in animal feed, as part of the radioactivity that these animals are exposed to, could be transmitted to humans. Natural radionuclides such as 40K, 232Th and 226Ra find their way into the food chain from soil and air to plants and from plants to animals and humans as well. The goal of this study was to determine the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides in three commercial chicken feeds – starter, grower and finisher. The analyzes were performed by means of HPGe gamma spectrometry - gamma spectrometer (Canberra Packard) with a high-purity germanium detector. The obtained spectra from the measurement were analyzed by using the program GENIE 2000. Based on the performed tests, the mean values for the activity concentrations in the samples were the following 26.03±4.1 Bq kg-1 for 226Ra, 37.9±4.8 Bq kg-1 for 232Th, and 64.40±6.5 Bq kg-1 for 40K. The results obtained from the analyses of chicken feeds were compared to studies in other countries and it was found that 40K was present in the highest amount in all types of samples while the vales for the other natural radionuclides were within the nominal concentrations. Higher concentration of 40K can be associated with plants used in the production of animal feed, which were contaminated with fertilizer during their cultivation. The range of radionuclide concentrations in the samples was within the recommended values UNSCEAR.Praćenje razine radioaktivnosti u hrani za životinje od izrazite je važnosti, budući da je oralna konzumacija jedan od najčešćih načina unosa radionuklida u živuće organizme. S obzirom na ljudsku konzumaciju proizvoda životinjskog porijekla (jaja, perad, mlijeko i govedina), važno je pratiti razine radijacije u hrani za životinje budući da dio ukupne radioaktivnosti kojoj su životinje izložene može prijeći na ljude. Prirodni radionuklidi poput 40K, 232Th i 226Ra ulaze u hranidbeni lanac iz zemlje i zraka u biljke te u životinje i ljude. Cilj ovog istraživanja je odrediti aktivne koncentracije prirodnih radionuklida u tri komercijalne vrste hrane za piliće – starteru, groweru i finišeru. Analize su provedene uporabom gama spektrometra visoke rezolucije, odnosno gama spektrometrom (Canberra Packard) s germanijskim detektorom visoke čistoće. Dobiveni mjerni raspon analiziran je uporabom programa GENIE 2000. Temeljem izvedenih ispitivanja uzoraka, prosječne vrijednosti aktivnih koncentracija su 26.04±4.1 Bq kg-1 za radionuklid 226Ra, 37.9±4.8 Bq kg-1 za radionuklid 232Th i 64.40±6.5 Bq kg-1 za radionuklid 40K. Rezultati navedenih analiza hrane za piliće uspoređeni su s istraživanjima provedenim u drugim državama, a zaključak istog je da je radionuklid 40K prisutan u najvišim količinama u svim vrstama analiziranih uzoraka dok su zabilježene normalne koncentracije ostalih prirodnih radionuklida. Više koncentracije radionuklida 40K mogu se povezati s biljkama upotrjebljenima u proizvodnji hrane za životinje, a koje su prethodno bile kontaminirane gnojivima tijekom kultivacije. Utvrđeno je da je raspon koncentracija radionuklida u analiziranim uzorcima unutar vrijednosti koje preporuča UNSCEAR