Activity Concentration in Cassava Tubers Grown In Ebedei Community, an Oil Producing Area of Delta State, Nigeria

Exploration and exploitation of crude oil and other human activities is known to technologically enhance the naturally occurring radionuclides in an area. This study is aimed to determine the activity concentration in cassava and estimate annual effective dose due to the consumption of these tubers by the populace. The activity concentration of potassium -40, Radium-226 and thorium 232 in six samples from the study area have been measured using a hyper pure germanium (HpGe) detector system. The radioactive concentration of the samples ranges from 370.62 15.3 Bq/kg for potassium 40, 2.32 0.8 - 8.90 1.9 Bq/kg for thorium-232 and 1.68 1.1- 10.40 3.2 Bq/kg for Radium- 226. Estimated annual effective dose were also determined for each sample. Overall, the results are within the range of internationally recommended limits and no significant radiological hazard was found. The results of this study may be considered as the baseline levels of radioactivity in foodstuffs in these areas to check future activities.