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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