²²⁸Ra and ²²⁶Ra in industrialized food consumed by dairy cows in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil

In the state of Pernambuco, industrialized products of vegetable and mineral origin are intensely used in feeding dairy cows. However, depending on the origin, these foods may contain significant amounts of natural radionuclides, especially ²²⁸Ra and ²²⁶Ra that are distributed in the earth's crust in varying amounts. Foods of plant origin may contain significant amounts of ²²⁸Ra and ²²⁶Ra, because depending on where the plant was grown, these radionuclides are efficiently absorbed by the roots. In the case of mineral foods, most of them come from phosphate rocks that are predominantly rich in natural radionuclides, including ²²⁸Ra and ²²⁶Ra. The objective of this work was to determine the concentrations of ²²⁸Ra and ²²⁶Ra in industrialized foods consumed by dairy cows in the state of Pernambuco. The concentrations of ²²⁸Ra in food samples of plant origin varied from 2,738 to 22,266 mBq.kg^-1 in the dry matter, and from 2,582 to 63,000 mBq.kg^-1 in dry matter in samples of foods of mineral origin (dicalcium phosphate). In the case of ²²⁶Ra, concentrations ranged from 246 to 2,600 mBq.kg^-1 in the dry matter for food samples of plant origin, and from 1,300 to 7,800 mBq.kg^-1 in the dry matter for the samples of foods of origin mineral (dicalcium phosphate). (author)