Radiation Dosimetry and Heavy Metal Assessment of Honey in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Honey samples from the wild, apiary, and commercial outfits have been evaluated for the activity concentration of ⁴⁰K, ²³⁸U, and ²³²Th using gamma spectrometry, and for heavy metals using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy.  The mean committed effective doses ranged from 9 ± 6 for adults to 25 ± 12 nSvy^-1 for children (1 year) for the samples from the wild; 23 ± 14 for adults to 52 ± 25 nSvy^-1 for children (1 year) for the samples from the apiary; and 29 ± 19 for adults to 68 ± 41 nSvy^-1in children (1 year) for honey samples from commercial outfits. The samples collected from the wild and apiary had Cd and Cr below detection levels, while Pb, Cu and Zn have mean values of 7.5, 3.0 and 0.3 ppm and 3.8, 4.8 and 1.0 respectively. But for samples from commercial outfits, Cu, Cd and Pb were below detection limits while Cr and Zn have mean values of 23.0 and 11.0 ppm, respectively. The committed effective dose was below 0.29 mSvy^-1 recommended by UNSCEAR. The honey samples may not be of any radiological concern. However, health risks due to heavy metals cannot be ruled out.