Radioactivity of natural medicinal preparations contained extracts from peat mud available in retail trade used externally.

In this work were identified and measured the activity of radioactive isotopes present in medicinal preparations from peat mud and estimated the doses obtained from them during therapy. Radioactivity of 22 preparations from peat mud and 20 water samples from water of the North-East region of Poland was studied. The median of the total activity was 24.8 Bq kg-1. Total maximal isotope activity was observed in the Iwonicka Cube 146 Bq kg-1 while considerable amounts of isotopes were found in the Kolobrzeska Peat Mud Paste 112 Bq kg-1. The doses obtained during therapy were within the range of 11 nSv-13 μSv depending on extracts of medicinal preparations from peat mud. The probability that such a small dose would stimulate biological effects is low. However, some clinicians believe that one of the possible therapeutic mechanisms in the treatment of rheumatoid disorders is the induction of immune response by ionising radiation.