Assessment of radiological hazards in cooking liquid oil, used in Kurdistan region-Iraq

In this study, the cooking liquid oil as a principal foodstuff element in meals of Kurdistan region population has been examined for radioactivity assessment. The activity concentration of natural and artificial radionuclides in twenty one oil types available in Kurdistan region markets were calculated using NaI(Tl) gamma-ray spectrometer. The results indicates that the activity concentration of 238U, 232Th and 40K radionuclides were ranged in Bq/L from 0.167- 0.207, 0.148-0.613 and 0.184-12.018, respectively. For 137Cs artificial radionuclide, the activity concentration was below the detection limit. The radiological parameters derived from the primordial radionuclides of radium equivalent Raeq, , Indoor Absorbed Gamma Dose Rate (Din), Indoor Annual Effective Dose Rate (Ein), Annual Committed Effective Dose, Representative Level Index (RLI) and Excess Life Time Cancer Risk were calculated to be well below the recommendation values suggested by UNSCEAR 200. Thus, it’s concluded that the usage of the 21 studied oil samples do not create any radiological risks and safe for consumptions. References Adedokun, M.B., Aweda, M.A., Maleka, P.P., Obed, R.I., Ogungbemi, K.I. and Ibitoye, Z.A., 2019. Natural radioactivity contents in commonly consumed leafy vegetables cultivated through surface water irrigation in Lagos state, Nigeria. Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences, 12(1), pp.147-156. Al-Ghamdi, A. and Alzahrani, J., 2017. Studies of 226Ra, 28Th and 40K Concentrations in Cooking Oil and Estimation the Radiological Hazards to Human Health. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS), 31(1), pp.78-84. Al-Hamidawi, A.A., Al-Gazaly, H.H. and Al-Alasadi, L.A., 2013. Determination of natural radiation contamination for some types of legumes available in the Iraqi markets. Pelagia Research Library, 4(5), pp.245-250. Awudu, A., Faanu, A., Darko, E., Emi-Reynolds, G., Adukpo, O., Kpeglo, D., Otoo, F., Lawluvi, H., Kpodzro, R., Ali, I. and Obeng, M., 2011. Preliminary studies on 226Ra, 228Ra, 228Th and 40K concentrations in foodstuffs consumed by inhabitants of Accra metropolitan area, Ghana. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 291(3), pp.635-641). Cherry, S.R., Sorenson, J.A. and Phelps, M.E., 2012. Physics in nuclear medicine e-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences. Hammood, H.A., and Al-Khalifa, I.J.M., 2011. Radon concentration measurement in water of Dhi-Qar governorate in Iraq using emanometer. Jo