Transfer of 40K, 238U, 210Pb, and 210Po from soil to plant in various locations in south of Syria

Abstract Transfer factors of 40 K, 238 U, 210 Pb, and 210 Po from soil to some agriculture crops in various locations in south of Syria (Dara'a and Assuwaydaa districts) have been determined. Soil and vegetable crops (green pepper, cucumber, tomato, and eggplant), legumes crops (lentil, chickpea, and broad bean), fruit trees (apple, grape, and olives) and cereals (barley and wheat) were collected and analyzed for 238 U, 210 Pb, and 210 Po. The results have shown that higher transfer factors (calculated as Bq kg −1 dry wt. plant material per Bq kg −1 dry wt. soil) for 210 Po, 210 Pb and 238 U were observed in vegetable leaves than fruits and cereals leaves; the highest values of transfer factor (TF) for 238 U were found to be 0.1 for straw of chickpea. Transfer factors for 210 Po varied between 2.8 × 10 −2 and 2 in fruits of eggplant and grain of barley, respectively. In addition, several parameters affecting transfer factors of the radionuclides were evaluated. The results can be considered as base values for TF of natural radionuclides in the region.