Herbal plants show another evidence of radon contamination in Al-Muthanna Province

Nowadays, human use of herbs increases especially with the huge benefits of herbs in medical and food aspects. These plants could be exposed to irradiated contamination and being risk sources of human health. Different studies showed that many places of Al-Muthanna province contained risky levels of Radon-222 (222Rn). In this study, 222Rn has been detected in different types of herbs that were collected from various markets in Al-Muthanna with nineteen types of herbs. Continuous Radon Monitoring (CRM-1029) was used to detect 222Rn levels in the herbs. The highest rates were recorded in Cinnamon (imported from India) was (21.5 Bq/m3), while the lowest rates were in Nigella sativa (from India too) was (6.65 Bq/m3). The measured rates were higher than known acceptable levels because the radiological study shows that consumption of the studied for herbals plants would impose no health with more than (7 Bq/m3) and when compare with the sample of without materials, but if using the herbals plants to cook or with meals which in this study, using not more 1-2 days per month to get the decay of radiation of radon in the human body and depended on the reported in literature. It is recommended to re-evaluate the 222Rn concentrations in other types of food and herbs either imported or local planted.