The present study aimed to record natural radionuclide content in branded food samples representative of a typical North Indian diet. Forty samples of various food items falling into three categories namely, cereal grains, pulses and beverages were collected from the local markets of Punjab. The radiometric analysis was performed using NaI(Tl) scintillator detector. The activity concentrations ranged between 10 ± 1 and 20 ± 5 Bq kg-1 for 226Ra, Below Detectable Limit (BDL) and 10 ± 2 Bq kg-1 for 232Th and 440 ± 56 and 562 ± 70 Bq kg-1 for 40K. The radium equivalent (Raeq) varied from 55 Bq kg-1(corn) to 70 Bq kg-1 (tea) with an average of 62 Bq kg-1. Internal hazard index (HI) was also calculated (0.18-0.24), which was well below the prescribed threshold of one (24). Age-specific annual effective doses were estimated for infants, children and adults. Children were the most sensitive group of population to radionuclide doses from cereal grains. The annual effective doses were further used to calculate the lifetime cancer risk which exceeded the world average of 2.9$\times$10-4 (24). However, the overall results showed that the intake of these dietary products by the general public did not pose any serious health risk.

中文翻译：

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印度北部常见食用食物中天然陆地放射性核素的剂量评估。

本研究旨在记录代表典型北印度饮食的品牌食品样本中的天然放射性核素含量。从旁遮普邦的当地市场收集了40种食品，这些食品分为谷物，豆类和饮料三大类。使用NaI（Tl）闪烁体检测器进行辐射分析。226Ra的活度浓度范围在10±1和20±5 Bq kg-1之间，对于232Th低于检测限（BDL）和10±2 Bq kg-1，对于40K则为440±56和562±70 Bq kg-1。镭当量（Raeq）从55 Bq kg-1（玉米）到70 Bq kg-1（茶）不等，平均为62 Bq kg-1。还计算出内部危害指数（HI）（0.18-0.24），该指数远低于规定的阈值之一（24）。估计了婴儿的特定年龄年度有效剂量，儿童和成人。儿童是对谷物中放射性核素剂量最敏感的人群。年度有效剂量进一步用于计算终生癌症风险，其超过世界平均水平的2.9美元乘以10-4美元（24）。但是，总体结果表明，普通大众摄入这些饮食产品不会构成任何严重的健康风险。