Body potassium content and radiation dose from 40K to the Slovak population

A group of 219 subjects of Slovak adults from both sexes were studied for potassium body content by measuring the whole body activity of naturally occurring K-40 using a whole body counter. The average body potassium value is 1.68 +/- 0.33 g kg(-1) body weight for males and 1.60 +/- 0.30 g kg(-1) for females. For both sexes the average body content of K was 1.62 +/- 0.30 g kg(-1). The concentration of potassium varies inversely with age. The specific activity of K-40 varies inversely with slenderness. The total body potassium varies directly with body-build index for males, while its value is essentially constant for young females and tends to decrease with body-build index for old females. The average annual dose from K-40 is 150 +/- 30 mu Gy for males and 140 +/- 30 mu Gy for females. For both sexes the average annual dose is 142 +/- 30 mu Gy. Both total potassium body content and annual dose from K-40 for older subjects are below the values reported by the UNSCEAR.