The effects of fertilizers on increasing the natural radioactivity of cabbage plants
2022
Kadhim, N. F. | Khalaf, H. N. B. | Baqir, Y. A. | Abid-Al-Ammer, H. | Mostafa, M. Y. A.
In the present work, the effects of different types of fertilizer on the natural radioactivity content of soil and cabbages was studied. Gamma spectroscopy Reagent NaI (Tl) was used to estimate the radioactivity concentration in cabbage and soil samples. One control sample was grown without adding any fertilizers and five samples were fertilized over the entire planting period. Five common types of fertilizer used on Iraqi farms were separately added to each cabbage plant (NPK, DAP, urea, and organic). The specific activity of U-238 ranges from 0.52 ± 0.83 Bq kg⁻¹ for D.2 (urea from Iraq) to 4.15 ± 0.51 Bq kg⁻¹ for D.1 (DPA, super phosphate P₂O₅ from Lebanon). In all the used types of fertilizers, the Th-232 specific activity was less than 1 Bq kg⁻¹. Very low U-238 and Th-232 activity was observed in the soil and cabbage samples produced without fertilizer (below 0.2 Bq kg⁻¹). The highest specific activity for K-40 in the fertilizer samples (188.16 ± 19.6 Bq kg⁻¹) was found in the Emirati fertilizer sample (NPK, N.4). Based on the specific activity measurements, the radiation hazard parameters were estimated. The radiation hazard parameters fall within the recommended limits. It is recommended that the super phosphate P₂O₅ (DAP) composite not be used: if its use is necessary, then radiological controls must be employed. The values of the mean hazard parameters for all samples are lower than the worldwide average values and those from previous studies.
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