Levels of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb in fish and molluscs in Slovenia and the related dose assessment to the population.

²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb activity concentrations in fish from the Slovenian part of Adriatic Sea, in the vicinity of a former uranium mine at Žirovski vrh and from the Slovenian market were determined. In addition, ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb activity concentrations in squid from the Slovenian market and in mussels from the Slovenian part of the Adriatic Sea were also determined. Fish, squid and mussel consumption in Slovenia was assessed from the data available from Eurostat and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the data used for the corresponding dose calculation. Fish species with the highest activity concentrations were grilled to assess possible loss of ²¹⁰Po during the food preparation process. Samples were freeze dried and radiochemical separation of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb was performed. Measurements of ²¹⁰Po were performed by alpha spectrometry and ²¹⁰Pb by a low background gas-flow proportional counter. ²¹⁰Po activity concentrations in fish, squid and mussels were from 0.039 to 35.0 Bqkg⁻¹ fresh weight and ²¹⁰Pb activity concentrations were from 0.08 to 3.03 Bqkg⁻¹ fresh weight. Grilling of fish resulted in no significant loss of ²¹⁰Po at 90°C. The assessed combined annual effective ingestion dose due to ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb for fish, squid and mussels consumed in Slovenia is 47.6 μSv year⁻¹.