MEASUREMENT OF URANIUM IN URINE, HAIR AND NAILS IN SUBJECTS OF NISKA BANJA TOWN, A HIGH NATURAL BACKGROUND RADIATION AREA OF SERBIA

• Published in: Radiation Protection Dosimetry Vol. 184; no. 3-4; pp. 319 - 323
• Main Authors: Zunic, Zora S., Benedik, Evgen, Kritsananuwat, Rawiwan, Veselinovic, Nenad, Tokonami, Shinji, Arac, H, Stojanovska, Zdenka, Sahoo, Sarata Kumar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press (OUP) 01.10.2019; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Background Radiation; Female; Hair; Hair - metabolism; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Nails; Nails - metabolism; Physical sciences; Radiation Exposure; Radiation Exposure - analysis; Radiation Monitoring; Radiation Monitoring - methods; Serbia; Uranium; Uranium - analysis; Urinalysis; Urinalysis - methods; Serbia
• ISSN: 0144-8420; 1742-3406; 1742-3406
• DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncz120

Abstract Urine, hair and nail samples were collected from a population of both sex aged from 40 to 87 years in Niška Banja (227 km south of Belgrade, Serbia) with a high level of natural radioactivity (HLNRA). To assess and monitor the public exposure, urine samples for each subject (24 h period) were collected and concentration of uranium (U) was analysed using alpha-particle spectrometry. Human hair and nails considered as bio-indicators of the public exposure to radionuclides over a long period of months or even years and concentration of U was determined using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The mean concentrations of U in urine, hair and nail were 123 ng/L, 17 ng/g and 8 ng/g, respectively. There was a large variation and may be due to geological origin.