
Tea stands as one of the most widely enjoyed beverages globally. Environmental pollution from toxic substances such as pesticides, metals, and radioactivity leads countries to conduct monitoring studies on the presence of radionuclides in the environment. Especially when the EU Council Regulation 2016/52/Euratom systematized the emergency limits on radionuclides in foods, including 210Po, the most critical radionuclides from the ingestion pathway, this study presents the content of radiotoxic radionuclides – the alpha emitter 210Po and the beta emitter 210Pb in 141 different tea brands collected from 18 countries worldwide. The 210Po activity concentrations ranged from 1.64 to 59.5 Bq∙kg-1, while the 210Pb activity concentrations ranged from 0.46 Bq∙kg-1 to 72.2 Bq∙kg-1. The annual effective doses and cancer risk resulting from consuming tea infusions were also calculated, and the research findings highlight that consuming the investigated teas is safe from a radiological perspective.
Polonium 210Po, lead 210Pb, food radioactivity, effective dose, cancer risk, radionuclides
Polonium 210Po, lead 210Pb, food radioactivity, effective dose, cancer risk, radionuclides
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