Polonium content in some economically important fish in Semarang and Cirebon, Indonesia

Abstract

As a marine country, Indonesia recognizes various sources of healthy food from the ocean, such as fish, shellfish, and seaweed, leading to the Indonesian government actively promoting a fish-eating campaign to improve health. Although fish consumption in Indonesia is increasing, research on the concentration of 210Po in fish has not often been studied. Based on this condition, this study was needed to determine the activity concentration of 210Po in several fish that have high economic value in Semarang and Cirebon, and their relationship with several parameters of oceanography. The 210Po activity measurement method in fish is based on the IAEA-MEL (2005) method. The detected 210Po activity concentrations were 207.3, 71.7, 130.9, 4.46, 112.6, and 251.6 Bq/kg (dw) for skipjack, four-finger, mullet, snapper, pomfret, and ponyfish, respectively. These values are still considered safe compared to the values allowed by the Indonesia Quality Standard Limit (Bappeten), which is 10×103 Bq/kg (dw). Compared to some fish and shellfish used in overseas research, the content of 210Po in some fish in Indonesia is still lower. The activity value of 210Po above 20 Bq/kg was detected in skipjack and ponyfish, which have higher protein, calcium, iron, and zinc content than other fish. However, the 210Po value does not significantly correlate with other parameters, such as bathymetry, current, or sea surface temperature.