Assessment of 210Po in foodstuffs consumed in Korea

210Po in the daily diet in Korea was analyzed and the ingestion dose from an intake of 210Po was estimated by considering the dietary habit of a Korean person. The 210Po concentrations of a leafy vegetable (0.36 Bq·kg−1 for lettuce) in the terrestrial food were higher than those of grain, whereas Chinese cabbage had a lesser 210Po concentration (0.019 Bq·kg−1). The 210Po concentration of the animal product was similar to those detected in the grain and vegetable. The 210Po concentrations in the shell and crustaceous were high from 19.1 to 33.0 Bq·kg−1, however, its value fell in the overall range of the reported values. The effective dose from 210Po for an adult from the Korean population was about 269.4 μSv·y−1. Nearly 80% of the ingestion dose from the intake of 210Po was attributed to the consumption of seafood. It suggests that the marine food ingestion is a critical pathway for natural 210Po to the Korean population.