Gamma spectroscopy for the investigation of radiation contamination in the UAE

Radiation monitoring deals with the sampling and measurement of different products found in different radiation pathways from the environment ending with consumption in humans. The aim of this research is to measure the radioactivity in the food products from different cities in the United Arab Emirates. Gamma-spectroscopy is the main tool for measurement that is adopted in this research, available in University of Sharjah and the Sharjah Municipality laboratories. The samples of milk, honey and dates were analysed to measure the radiation level. Milk and date samples were counted for 18 hours, and the measurement time for honey was around 48 hours. The count rate of 40K, 131I, 134Cs and 137Cs was measured for different types of milk, dates and honey produced in the UAE. The count rate of 131I, 134Cs and 137Cs was undetected in all samples. However, a 40K peak was present in all spectra and found to be 0.0149 [cps], 0.0294 [cps] and 0.0189 [cps] in the milk, dates and honey samples respectively. The results acquired from the tests were compared with similar studies in the past and were found to be of high similarity. The findings of this research reveal the absence of radionuclides in the food products.