Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 23 No 6 (2019): 980 - 990

DOI: 10.17576/mjas-2019-2306-06

 

 

 

Radioactivity of 210Po in Green Mussels (Perna viridis) at the West Coast of Johore Straits, Malaysia

 

(Radioaktiviti 210Po dalam Kupang (Perna viridis) di Pantai Barat Selat Johor, Malaysia)

 

Mei Peng Lim and Che Abd Rahim Mohamed*

 

School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences,

Faculty of Science and Technology,

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author:  carmohd@ukm.edu.my

 

 

Received: 19 August 2019; Accepted: 11 November 2019

 

 

Abstract

Johor Straits is one of the most polluted coastal areas in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia and sampling of green mussels in various sizes and locations (e.g., cultured, wild and local market) was conducted to investigate its ability to accumulate 210Po into their organs.  Levels of 210Po varied according to the organ and origin of the organisms, where the level of activity in the stomach and tissues ranged from 64.51 ± 3.47 Bq kg-1 dry weight to 520.26 ± 27.25 Bq kg-1 dry weight and 25.44 ± 1.25 Bq kg-1 dry weight to 154.28  ± 5.62 Bq kg-1 dry weight, respectively. Green mussels from the wild contained the highest mean activity of 210Po as 406.35 ± 14.10 Bq kg-1 dry weight in the stomach and 79.33 ± 0.87 Bq kg-1 dry weight in tissue because of contaminations from the industrial and domestic effluent discharges directly into the sampling locations. The activity levels were also relatively higher than other marine organisms from different areas in Malaysia as well as worldwide values. Therefore, it is assumed that green mussels might be a radiation risk to seafood consumers from the Johor Straits, since the radiation dose of 210Po exceeds permitted levels by the USEPA.

 

Keywords:  radioactivity, green mussel, seafood, radiation, contamination

 

Abstrak

Selat Johor adalah kawasan pinggir pantai yang tercemar di bahagian Selatan Semenanjung Malaysia dan pensampelan kupang dalam pelbagai saiz dan lokasi (contoh seperti ternak, liar dan pasaran tempatan) dilakukan untuk memeriksa keupayaan akumulasi 210Po ke dalam organnya. Aras 210Po adalah berbeza bergantung kepada jenis organ dan lokasi asal organisma tersebut, julat aras aktiviti dalam perut dan tisu masing-masing dari 64.51 ± 3.47 Bq kg-1 berat kering hingga  520.26 ± 27.25 Bq kg-1 berat kering dan 25.44 ± 1.25 Bq kg-1 berat kering hingga 154.28  ± 5.62 Bq kg-1 berat kering. Kupang liar mengandungi aktiviti purata 210Po tertinggi iaitu 406.35 ± 14.10 Bq kg-1 berat kering dalam perut dan 79.33 ± 0.87 Bq kg-1 berat kering dalam tisu kerana bahan buangan pencemaran daripada industri dan domestik dikeluarkan terus ke kawasan pensampelan kerang. Aras aktiviti umumnya adalah tinggi berbanding dengan organisma marin yang lain diperolehi dari kawasan berlainan di Malaysia begitu juga nilai aktiviti peringkat dunia. Oleh itu, boleh dianggap bahawa kupang mungkin menjadi risiko radiasi kepada pengguna makanan laut dari Selat Johor, kerana dos radiasi 210Po melebihi tahap yang dibenarkan oleh USEPA.

 

Kata kunci:  radioaktiviti, kupang, makanan laut, radiasi, pencemaran

 

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