Biomaterial Database

Radioactivity of soil in Croatia II: 137Cs, 40K, and absorbed dose rate. 2021

Marko Šoštarić, and Branko Petrinec, and Mak Avdić, and Ljerka Petroci, and Milica Kovačić, and Željka Zgorelec, and Božena Skoko, and Tomislav Bituh, and Jasminka Senčar, and Gina Branica, and Zdenko Franić, and Iva Franulović, and Davor Rašeta, and Ivan Bešlić, and Dinko Babić

Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia.

We took samples of uncultivated soil from the surface layer (0-10 cm) at 138 sites from all over Croatia and measured their radionuclide activity concentrations with high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry. This second part of our report brings the results on 40K and 137Cs to complement those on the 232Th and 238U decay chains addressed in the first part. Together they give the most complete picture of radioactivity of Croatian soil so far. Activity concentrations of 40K were the highest in the Pannonian region, and there was an opposite trend for 137Cs. We found that the concentrations of 137Cs tended to increase with altitude, annual precipitation, and vegetation density. The concentration ratio of 137Cs and K in soil, which indicates the potential for 137Cs entering food chains via uptake by plants, was the lowest in agriculturally important areas in the east of the Pannonian region. In addition, we used the obtained results on activity concentrations to calculate the related absorbed dose rate as a measure of external exposure to ionising radiation from soil. The sum of the absorbed dose rates for naturally occurring radionuclides and 137Cs showed that external exposure was generally the highest in the Dinaric region and Istrian Peninsula.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011834	Radiation Monitoring	The observation, either continuously or at intervals, of the levels of radiation in a given area, generally for the purpose of assuring that they have not exceeded prescribed amounts or, in case of radiation already present in the area, assuring that the levels have returned to those meeting acceptable safety standards.	Monitoring, Radiation
D011851	Radioactivity	The spontaneous transformation of a nuclide into one or more different nuclides, accompanied by either the emission of particles from the nucleus, nuclear capture or ejection of orbital electrons, or fission. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)	Nuclear Decay,Radioactive Disintegration,Decay, Nuclear,Disintegration, Radioactive,Disintegrations, Radioactive,Radioactive Disintegrations,Radioactivities
D002588	Cesium Radioisotopes	Unstable isotopes of cesium that decay or disintegrate emitting radiation. Cs atoms with atomic weights of 123, 125-132, and 134-145 are radioactive cesium isotopes.	Radioisotopes, Cesium
D012987	Soil	The unconsolidated mineral or organic matter on the surface of the earth that serves as a natural medium for the growth of land plants.	Peat,Humus,Soils
D012990	Soil Pollutants, Radioactive	Pollutants, present in soil, which exhibit radioactivity.	Pollutants, Radioactive Soil,Radioactive Soil Pollutants
D017523	Croatia	Created 7 April 1992 as a result of the division of Yugoslavia.