Radiation Hygienic Control of Mineral Supplements and Feed for Pigs

Radiometric control of products involved in the food chain is an important part of ongoing quality control of products related to food and feed. Content of primordial and anthropogenic radionuclides in some products directly determines their quality and further methods of usage. The most common way of intake of radionuclides in the human body is ingestion (80 %) through contaminated food and water. The foods of animal origin are largely represented in the human diet. Therefore radiation control of animal feeds and animal products will contribute to producing food for human nutrition without or with low risk for health. This paper presents the results obtained by gamma spectrometric analysis of mineral additives and mixtures for pig nutrition, from imported and domestic production. In most samples examined, activity levels of natural and radionuclides made during production were in accordance with the regulations. A certain number of tested mineral supplement samples had increased levels of activity of 238 U (640- 2100 Bq/kg), which was not in accordance with applicable regulations.