Radiological evaluation of Ra-226, Ra-228 and K-40 in tea samples: A comparative study of effective dose and cancer risk.

Activity concentrations of tea samples were determined using high resolution gamma spectrometry.The values ranged from (421.00 ± 17.00) to (732.00 ± 30.00) Bq.kg -1 for K-40 and from (3.00 ± 0.80) to (27.00 ± 3.00) Bq.kg-1 for Ra-228. The values for Ra-226 were below 27.00 Bq.kg-1. The committed effective dose was estimated at 4.74-78.89 µSv.y-1 for adults and 13.55-445.84 µSv.y-1 for children. The cancer risk was higher for females. However, results showed that the tea consumption do not represent a radiological health risk to the population.