Ingestion of radionuclides through food intake accounts for a substantial part of
radiation doses and vegetables constitute essential components of the diet, by
contributing protein, vitamins, iron, calcium and other nutrients. Radionuclides can be
apprehended in the ecosystem of the East Singhbhum region which is known for its viable
grades of uranium. In the present study, vegetables were collected from the villages
around the proposed Bagjata mining area and analysed for U(nat), 226Ra,
230Th and 210Po. The geometric mean concentration of U(nat),
226Ra, 230Th, and 210Po were 0.05, 0.09, 0.17 and 1.12
Bq kg-1 fresh weight, respectively. The intake of the radionuclides from
vegetables was found to be 49.58 Bq y-1while the ingestion dose was calculated
to be 11.51 µSv y-1, respectively. The estimated doses are reflecting the
natural background dose via the route of ingestion, which is much below
the 1 mSv limit set in the new ICRP recommendations. It is lower than the global average
annual radiation dose of 2 400 µSv to man from the natural radiation sources as proposed
by UNSCEAR. The total cancer risk due to the consumption of vegetables was calculated to
be 6.65 × 10-9 which is negligible and much lower than the threshold risk value
of 10-6. The study also reveals that water is more conducive for
high radioactivity occurrence in vegetables compared to soil systems.