Distribution and annual committed effective dose assessment of 210Po in popular marine species at the near-shore Binh Thuan province, Vietnam

Highlights: • The distribution of ²¹⁰Po in popular seafood species in Binh Thuan, Vietnam. • The species with lower trophic level value have higher ²¹⁰Po concentration. • ²¹⁰Po in the omnivorous species is 2.9 times higher than in the carnivorous species. • The species living in demersal zone accumulated ²¹⁰Po higher than other zones. • ACED of ²¹⁰Po due to ingestion of bivalve (filter feeder) is significant high. ²¹⁰Po concentration in thirty popular marine species (twenty five fishes, four bivalves and one crab) with different habitats, feeding types, and trophic levels at the near-shore Binh Thuan, Vietnam was analyzed using the alpha detectors. The ²¹⁰Po activities were widely ranged from 3.07 ± 0.18 in a fish species (Bumpnose trevally) to 78.6 ± 5.3 Bq/kg w.w in a bivalve species (Green mussel) with the average value of 16.6 Bq/kg w.w. The results showed that the species with lower trophic level value have higher ²¹⁰Po concentration. Regarding the feeding types, the ²¹⁰Po concentration in the omnivorous species is about 2.9 times higher than in the carnivorous species. The species living in demersal zone accumulated a high ²¹⁰Po in comparison with species living in reef-associated and pelagic-neritic zones. The calculated annual committed effective dose from ²¹⁰Po due to the ingestion of seafood from demersal zone and bivalve species of the area was significant high.