Radioactivity of cigarettes and radiation dose assessment due to smoking / 中国辐射卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective Collect and analyze data of radiation level of 210Po/210Pb in cigarettes in China, evaluate the internal radiation dose caused by smoking to Chinese smokers and compare it with other countries. Methods The radiation levels of 210Po/210Pb in cigarettes in domestic and foreign countries were summarized and analyzed, and the fractions of 210Po/210Pb in mainstream smoke were recommended, and the internal radiation doses to smokers in China were estimated. Results In 2015, there were 320 million smokers among aged 15 and above in China with an average smoking amount of 15.2 cigarettes per day. The average activities of 210Po/210Pb weighted by the number of cigarette brands were 28.2 mBq per cigarette and 39.3 mBq per cigarette respectively. The mainstream smoke fraction of 20% of 210Po was used to make the does estimation which was the mean value of the experimental results of simulator and volunteers, and that of 210Pb was 10% measured by simulators. Based on the average smoking amount per day and the number of smokers in China, the annual effective dose of current smokers in China is 126 μSv·a−1, and the collective effective dose is 40746 man·Sv. Conclusion The content of 210Po/210Pb in Chinese cigarettes is about 2～3 times that of other country's cigarettes. However, the fraction of mainstream smoke and dose conversion coefficient of 210Po/210Pb adopted in this paper are different from those in other literatures. Therefore, the estimated dose of 20 cigarettes for Chinese smokers is lower than that for smokers in some countries.