Intake of uranium and radium-226 due to food crops consumption in the phosphate region of Pernambuco – Brazil

The phosphate region located in the Northeast of Brazil covers an area of approximately 150 km long with an average width of 4 km, along the coast of the states of Pernambuco and Paraíba. The inhabitants of this area are exposed to natural radioactivity levels higher than the background values recorded in the literature, mainly due to the presence of uranium and its decay products in the phosphatic sediments. The main aim of this study was to determine the activity concentration of uranium and 226Ra in foodstuffs cultivated in this area, where the phosphate mineral has been extracted. The activity concentrations found for uranium and 226Ra in the foodstuffs analyzed varied from 13 to 186 mBq kg−1 (wet weight), with a mean value of 46 mBq kg−1 and from 43 to 2209 mBq kg−1 (wet weight), with a mean value of 358 mBq kg−1, respectively. The annual intake of these radionuclides, for rural residents, was 7.45 Bq for uranium and 69.3 Bq for 226Ra.