Monitoring of the level of radioactivity in different environmental samples within the Slovak Republic, the committed effective doses resulting from the ingestion of different age groups from the public

The Slovak Republic has established the facilities necessary to carry out continuous monitoring of the level of radioactivity in the air, water, foodstuffs and soil and to ensure compliance with the basic standards as a member state of the European Union. Data from the monitoring are periodically published, evaluated and sent to the REM database of the European Community. Radioactive contamination of the Slovak Republic following the Chernobyl nuclear accident has raised public concern about food safety. Many people are wondering whether the domestic food samples are safe to eat even 28 years after the accident.Based on monitoring data reported during period 2004 - 2013, ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr concentrations in fresh cow and sheep milk, whole diet, wild mushrooms, wild boar meat are evaluated. Resulting committed effective doses from annual consumption for the different age group and different foodstuffs are calculated. (authors)