Use of Fertilizers in Agriculture: Individual Effective Dose Estimate
Natural radioactivity might be present in fertilizers above ordinary levels, in particular for <sup>40</sup>K and for the radionuclides of the <sup>238</sup>U series. A modeling evaluation of the individual effective dose deriving from the use of fertilizers in agriculture is...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Environments |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/7/1/7 |
| _version_ | 1811187053587595264 |
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| author | Raffaella Ugolini Elena Caldognetto Flavio Trotti |
| author_facet | Raffaella Ugolini Elena Caldognetto Flavio Trotti |
| author_sort | Raffaella Ugolini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Natural radioactivity might be present in fertilizers above ordinary levels, in particular for <sup>40</sup>K and for the radionuclides of the <sup>238</sup>U series. A modeling evaluation of the individual effective dose deriving from the use of fertilizers in agriculture is presented here. Dose assessment is useful in the transposition of Directive 2013/59/Euratom, which rules the individual exposure to commodities containing radionuclides of natural origin, such as fertilizers. The following input data have been considered for this study: the amount of fertilizers used in the region of Veneto and in Italy; the utilized agricultural area (to estimate the density of spread fertilizers); and, the average values of activity concentrations in fertilizers for <sup>40</sup>K and <sup>238</sup>U series radionuclides, derived from scientific literature. The individual effective dose was evaluated while using the Resrad calculation model, making assumptions on the characteristics of the interested soil. This study is focused on the region of Veneto, where the use of fertilizers is higher with respect to the rest of Italy, such providing a more conservative estimate of the individual effective dose to the population. The results show that the estimated individual effective dose values do not exceed few µSv per year. The category that most contributes to the dose is that of compound fertilizers and radon and <sup>40</sup>K are the most significant radionuclides. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:56:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1352170e42d34d778d9cf81f0633a588 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3298 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:56:44Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environments |
| spelling | doaj.art-1352170e42d34d778d9cf81f0633a5882022-12-22T04:20:18ZengMDPI AGEnvironments2076-32982020-01-0171710.3390/environments7010007environments7010007Use of Fertilizers in Agriculture: Individual Effective Dose EstimateRaffaella Ugolini0Elena Caldognetto1Flavio Trotti2Servizio Osservatorio Agenti Fisici, ARPAV, Via Dominutti 8, 37135 Verona, ItalyServizio Osservatorio Agenti Fisici, ARPAV, Via Dominutti 8, 37135 Verona, ItalyServizio Osservatorio Agenti Fisici, ARPAV, Via Dominutti 8, 37135 Verona, ItalyNatural radioactivity might be present in fertilizers above ordinary levels, in particular for <sup>40</sup>K and for the radionuclides of the <sup>238</sup>U series. A modeling evaluation of the individual effective dose deriving from the use of fertilizers in agriculture is presented here. Dose assessment is useful in the transposition of Directive 2013/59/Euratom, which rules the individual exposure to commodities containing radionuclides of natural origin, such as fertilizers. The following input data have been considered for this study: the amount of fertilizers used in the region of Veneto and in Italy; the utilized agricultural area (to estimate the density of spread fertilizers); and, the average values of activity concentrations in fertilizers for <sup>40</sup>K and <sup>238</sup>U series radionuclides, derived from scientific literature. The individual effective dose was evaluated while using the Resrad calculation model, making assumptions on the characteristics of the interested soil. This study is focused on the region of Veneto, where the use of fertilizers is higher with respect to the rest of Italy, such providing a more conservative estimate of the individual effective dose to the population. The results show that the estimated individual effective dose values do not exceed few µSv per year. The category that most contributes to the dose is that of compound fertilizers and radon and <sup>40</sup>K are the most significant radionuclides.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/7/1/7fertilizerindividual effective dosenatural radioactivity |
| spellingShingle | Raffaella Ugolini Elena Caldognetto Flavio Trotti Use of Fertilizers in Agriculture: Individual Effective Dose Estimate Environments fertilizer individual effective dose natural radioactivity |
| title | Use of Fertilizers in Agriculture: Individual Effective Dose Estimate |
| title_full | Use of Fertilizers in Agriculture: Individual Effective Dose Estimate |
| title_fullStr | Use of Fertilizers in Agriculture: Individual Effective Dose Estimate |
| title_full_unstemmed | Use of Fertilizers in Agriculture: Individual Effective Dose Estimate |
| title_short | Use of Fertilizers in Agriculture: Individual Effective Dose Estimate |
| title_sort | use of fertilizers in agriculture individual effective dose estimate |
| topic | fertilizer individual effective dose natural radioactivity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/7/1/7 |
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