The Mystery of Inherent Radiation in Plants: A Search for Answers

[jim mcnamara]

Carbon isotopes are used in carbon dating, which depends on measuring carbon isotope ratios that differ from what occurs in the atmosphere. All fixed carbon comes from photosynthesis ultimately.

Fractionation of carbon isotopes in oxygenic photosynthesis is the driver. Lighter isotopes are fixed into sugars.

So yes, isotopes of carbon would meet your requirement.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractionation_of_carbon_isotopes_in_oxygenic_photosynthesis

 

[Rive]

A 70 kg human has on average 116,200 pCi of K40 in their bodies at all times and always will unless you can obtain isotopically pure K39 to replace it with.

As I recall there was some early studies about the natural radioactivity of K40 being the electrical 'starter' of heartbeats, but I'm not sure how far could they go with the research.

 

[Odeon2000]

Thanks Keith ! I am very interested in this. I wonder if people know that butter beans have more radiation than bananas. It was also interesting to note that water made the top ten! And I thought beer was healthy :)

But in reality, since the International Atomic Energy Agency states (https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/new...s-discuss-harmonizing-international-standards) that :

"All foods contain natural radionuclides, which are transferred from the soil to the crops on land and from water to fish in rivers, lakes and the sea. Levels of natural radionuclides in food and drinking water are generally very low and safe for human consumption. However, they can vary considerably depending on local geology, climate and agricultural practices. " THERE IS NO REAL STANDARD, thus the reason for this conference.

Note that "... Lieve Sweeck from the Belgian nuclear research centre SCK•CEN noted, assessing the movement and accumulation of natural radionuclides in the environment and in the food chain is important because the largest part of most people’s radiation dose comes from natural sources. "

I am interested in the extraction of radiation, validated via Carbon 14 dating, from plants. I am confident that a simple process for performing the extraction will be published soon.