Gordana Vitorović

137Cs and 40K in some traditional herbal teas collected in the mountain regions of Serbia

Herbal teas are an important part of traditional medicine in Serbia. The objective of the present study was to determine the activity concentrations of 40K and 137Cs in herbal tea, using the gamma spectroscopy method. The samples were collected during the period 2011–2012 in three mountain regions in Western and Central Serbia. The activity concentrations of 40K and 137Cs were found to be in the range of 130–1160 and 0.7–124 Bq kg−1, respectively. The average annual effective dose equivalents from ingestion of 40K and 137Cs for an adult person consuming one cup of herbal tea daily were found to be 588.4–5250.2 nSv for 40K and 4.0–706.1 nSv for 137Cs. Our investigation showed that the herbal teas originating from Maljen, Zlatibor and Tara mountains are radiologically safe for human consumption.

Natural sepiolite efficiency in reducing 137Cs transfer and deposition into meat and edible organs of broiler chickens

The objectives of the present study were to examine the level of radiocesium deposit in meat and edible organs of broiler chickens as well as to investigate efficiency of natural sepiolite in reducing 137Cs deposition in meat, liver and gizzard of alimentary contaminated broiler chickens. Broiler chickens (six weeks of age) were fed with the standard diet and each broiler was given a single oral dose of 137Cs, total activity of 3750 Bq. The broilers were divided into two groups (10 broilers per group). The group 1 was control (received only radiocesium). The broilers of the group 2, in addition to radiocesium received natural sepiolite solution (2 g sepiolite per bird). After 24 hours, all broilers, from each group, were stunned and killed. The samples of meat, (breast and legs), liver and gizzard were taken from each broiler, for gamma spectrometry determination of radiocesium activity. After 24 hours of contamination, 56 % of introduced 137Cs radioactivity was deposited in the meat (breast and legs muscles), 1 % in the liver and 2,4 % in the gizzard of broiler chickens 42 days of age. Natural sepiolite demonstrated insufficient protective action. Compared to the control group, percentage reduction (decreasing percentage) of 137Cs deposition in meat was 16%, in liver 5% and in gizzard 12%.