Alpha radioactivity in human blood and its possible correlation to ailment pattern

Human blood, beside its multi-functional activities, may carry different ionizing radiation emitters to the whole body, spatially alpha emitters, acquired through unknowing ingestion of different food staffs and inhalation of contaminated air. This may the cause different health hazards. Estimation of alpha radioactivity in blood is necessary to get a basic idea about the level of alpha radio activity in human blood and assess whether there is any correlation of this with the possible ailment patterns of human. This study may also provide useful data to health science for further analysis in search of any correlation between the levels of blood alpha radioactivity in humans with age, sex and/or occurrence of diseases. Alpha radioactivity has been measured in blood samples collected from 285 participants, including people diagnosed with cancer, at Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The measurements have been done with the help of solid state nuclear track detector (SSNTD). Alpha(α) activity in the blood samples has been found to be lowest in participants who had mild diseases like common cold and flu and highest in those suffering from cancer. Average blood α-activity for all participants is found to be 66.3 ± 2 Bq/kg with minimum and maximum α-activity being 8.7 Bq/kg and 221.4 Bq/kg respectively. Average α-activity is highest in participants suffering from carcinoma and lowest in apparently healthy participants. Positive correlation is found between the participants’ blood α-activity and their ages. No correlation has been found between blood α-activity and the haematological parameters considered in this study.