210Po and 210Pb in medicinal plants in the region of Karnataka, Southern India

The activity concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides Po-210 and Pb-210 were estimated in some selected medicinal plants and soil samples of coastal Karnataka in India. The mean activity concentrations of Po-210 and Pb-210 varied in the range of 4.7-42.9 Bq kg(-1) (dry weight) and 36.1-124 Bq kg(-1) (dry weight) in the soil samples, and 3.3-63.7 Bq kg(-1) (dry weight) and 12.0-406 Bq kg(-1) (dry weight), in the medicinal plant samples, respectively. The plants, Ocimum sanctum L and Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng had significantly higher activity concentrations of Po-210 and Pb-210 than other species sampled. In spite of disequilibrium between them, these two radionuclides were well correlated in both soil and medicinal plants. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.