Estimation of 210Po and its risk to human beings due to consumption of marine species at Mumbai, India.

(210)Po was estimated in the edible muscle and soft tissue of 15 different marine species (fish, crab, prawn and bivalve) collected from Trans-Thane Creek area (Trombay) and Thane. Potential risks associated with consumption of marine organisms due to (210)Po collected from this particular area to human beings were assessed. Estimation of (210)Po was carried out using radiochemical separation and alpha spectrometric technique. The concentration of (210)Po was found to vary from 0.18 to 10.9 Bqkg(-1) wet wt in different biota species and maximum concentrations were observed in bivalves. The variations in (210)Po concentration in different species are mainly due to difference in metabolism and feeding habits. The daily intake and individual dose of (210)Po to human beings through biota consumption was calculated and found to be 31.89 mBqd(-1) and 19.44 microSvyr(-1), respectively. An assessment of the risk on human beings due to consumption of marine organism was undertaken using carcinogenic slope factor for (210)Po. 5th, 50th and 95th percentile of life time risk was calculated to be 9.74E-06, 4.39E-05 and 2.12E-04, respectively.