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Updated: May 20, 2026

Separation of Uranium and Thorium for 230Th-U Dating of Submarine Hydrothermal Sulfides
Published on: May 20, 2019
Naturally occurring radionuclides in food and drinking water from a thorium-rich area
Dejanira da Costa Lauria1, Elaine R R Rochedo, Maria Luisa D P Godoy
1Instituto de Radioproteção e Dosimetria, Brazilian Nuclear Energy Commission, Av. Salvador Allende, s/n, Rio de Janeiro, CEP 22780-160, Brazil, dejanira@ird.gov.br.
Abstract:
This paper focuses on a survey of uranium and thorium decay chain radionuclides in food and drinking water from the thorium-rich (monazite-bearing) region of Buena, which is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The radionuclide concentration values in the food and drinking water from Buena reached values higher than 100-fold the international reference values. The daily intake of radionuclides by the local population is similar to that of another high background radiation area in Brazil, but the intake is higher than that of residents from a normal background radiation area. Approximately 58 % of the food consumed by Buena inhabitants is produced locally. Based on that figure, locally produced food and the dilution of total radionuclides in the diet of residents caused by food importation are both highly relevant to a population's intake of radionuclides. The concentration values for (210)Pb and the radium isotopes in drinking water from Buena are among the highest values to be reported in the literature. (228)Ra is the most important radionuclide ingested with both food and water among the inhabitants of Buena.
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