MEASUREMENT OF THE ACTIVITY CONCENTRATIONS OF GAMMA EMITTING RADIONUCLIDES IN TOOTHPASTE SAMPLES AND ASSESSMENT OF THE CORRESPONDING ANNUAL EFFECTIVE DOSES

Abstract

It is inevitable that we are exposed to radiation daily from various sources and products that we consume on daily basis. The use of toothpaste for oral hygiene is one of the most common daily practices by humans and yet very little data are available regarding its radiation content. In this work, we investigated the concentrations of gamma emitting radionuclides in toothpaste samples consumed in Jordan. ⁴⁰K and ²²⁶Ra were detected in almost one-third of the samples, whereas ²²⁸Ra was detected in nearly half of them. The corresponding activity concentrations in the detected samples were in the ranges of 68.7–154.2, 4.6–14.1 and 1.3–10.0 Bq/kg, respectively. Dose assessment of accidental ingestion of toothpaste for children and adults was made, and its contribution to the annual effective dose was found to be very minimal with maximum doses of ~2.9 and 1.3 μSv for children and adults, respectively.