Measurement of fertilizers induced radioactivity in tobacco plants and elemental analysis using ICAP–AES

Abstract

It is widely accepted that tobacco smoke is the leading cause of lung cancer worldwide. The alpha radioactive content present in tobacco smoke and increasing number of lung cancer cases explain the importance of investigation. The use of different fertilizers may cause alteration in the metabolism of plants causing different response towards uptake of different element and radionuclides. In the present study, the estimation of alpha radioactivity induced by use of different fertilizers in tobacco leaves was made using solid state nuclear track detector (LR-115) to identify the relative presence of radionuclides in the plants. The radon exhalation rates from the tobacco plant were carried out to confirm the presence of radium or emission of radon from plant. The elemental analysis of tobacco plant by inductively coupled argon plasma atomic emission spectrometry provides a way to understand the difference occurred in metabolism caused by the use of fertilizers. The alpha track densities were found to vary with nature of fertilizers added to the soil and an increase was also observed with time. The radon mass exhalation rates in various tobacco plants were found to vary with type of fertilizers used.