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Determination of natural radioactivity levels and gamma radiation attenuation coefficients in propolis samples and the study of its antioxidant properties

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Published/Copyright: August 10, 2020
Radiochimica Acta
From the journal Radiochimica Acta Volume 108 Issue 10

Abstract

Thanks to its rich content, propolis has been used to protect the hive from all kinds of external influences and for disinfection by bees. Furthermore, it is an important marker for monitoring environmental pollution because the main sources of propolis are plant and secretions. So, the present study aimed to research radiation attenuation capability and the natural radioactivity level of propolis samples. For this reason, both natural radioactivity concentrations (226Ra, 232Th and 40K) and attenuation coefficients (Linear and Mass) in the propolis samples collected from 10 different points in Turkey were measured using high purity germanium detector (HPGe). The average natural radioactivity concentrations in samples were found to be 0.56 ± 0.19, 2.65 ± 0.31 and 70.08 ± 2.42 Bq/kg for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K, respectively. These values were much lower than the average world values (35 Bq/kg for 226Ra, 30 Bq/kg for 232Th and 400 Bq/kg for 40K) reported by United Nations Scientific Committee on Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) in foodstuff. The average linear attenuation coefficient, mass attenuation coefficients and half value layer values for gamma rays with 59.54 keV energy were determined as 0.1970 cm−1, 0.1831 cm2 g−1 and 3.56 cm, respectively. In addition, antioxidant properties of the samples were measured using total phenolic content and ferric reducing antioxidant power. Their correlations with radioactivity were investigated.

Keywords: antioxidant capacity; attenuation coefficients; gamma radiation; propolis; radioactivity
Corresponding author: Serdar Dizman, Department of Physics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, 53100, Turkey, E-mail:

  1. Author contribution: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

  2. Research funding: None declared.

  3. Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.

  4. Data availability: Statement is accepted by all authors.

  5. Disclaimer: All authors agree to disclaimer the copyright of the article.

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Received: 2019-07-24
Accepted: 2020-06-01
Published Online: 2020-08-10
Published in Print: 2020-10-25

© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ract-2019-3191
Keywords for this article
antioxidant capacity; attenuation coefficients; gamma radiation; propolis; radioactivity

Articles in the same Issue

  1. 10.1515/ract-2020-frontmatter10
  2. Original Papers
  3. Supramolecular assembly of ionic liquid induced by UO22+: a strategy for selective extraction-precipitation
  4. Direct extraction of uranium from yellow cake and ore matrices using supercritical carbon dioxide
  5. Studies on volatilization behavior of RuO4 from nitric acid medium
  6. Adsorptive removal of PAR and Arsenazo-III from radioactive waste solutions by modified sugarcane bagasse as eco-friendly sorbent
  7. Influence of sorption parameters on cesium-137 removal using modified activated carbon obtained from corchorus olitorius stalks
  8. 99mTc-citrate-gold nanoparticles as a tumor tracer: synthesis, characterization, radiolabeling and in-vivo studies
  9. Elemental composition analysis of Pistacia lentiscus L., leaves collected from Mitidja plain in Algeria using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) technique
  10. Determination of natural radioactivity levels and gamma radiation attenuation coefficients in propolis samples and the study of its antioxidant properties
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