Assessment of natural radionuclide levels in some Nigerian made poultry feedstuff

This study investigated the radionuclide contents of naturally occurring radionuclides. Ten samples of some Nigerian made poultry feedstuff and supplements were collected and analysed using NaI(Tl) gamma(𝛾)-ray spectroscopy for an accumulated time of about 29000 s. The results revealed that activity concentration of primordial radionuclides 40K, 226Ra, and 232Th for the samples ranged from 43.6 to 196.8 Bq/kg, 5.0 to 34.7 Bq/kg and 0.9 to 51.6 Bq/kg, respectively. The presence of anthropogenic radionuclides was not detected. The Nigerian poultry fodders were found to have relatively higher activities of 226Ra and 232Th compared to the activities reported for poultry feeds in other countries. However, the radionuclide concentrations are not alarming. Key words: Natural radionuclides, activity concentration, poultry, feedstuff, gamma ray spectroscopy.