THE RADIOACTIVE BANANA
Maybe you did not know yet, but for its high content of potassium, banana is considered a radioactive fruit, and so are others.
It contains small amounts of radioactive isotopes that emit radiation almost imperceptible when there is a single banana, but with a large quantity of bananas, for example, in containers or trucks for transport, radiation is enough to blow up the system of anti – radiation sensors at any port or customs.
For this reason, it is considered ” legitimate radioactive material”, as well as certain ceramics or cat litter.
DOSE EQUIVALENT TO A BANANA
Bananas contain natural radio potassium so, this potassium possessing, contains 0.0117% potassium -40, the famous isotope K-40, which is radioactive. It isn’t the only food that contains it, for example potatoes, beans, sunflower seeds, nuts and avocados possess it too and therefore they are also radioactive. Brazil nuts are the most radioactive food, their levels reach 244 becquerel per kilogram.
The equivalent dose when eating a banana is measured in BED (banana equivalent dose), is another easy way to compare the exposure of radiation often used by some nuclear detectors. But that can help calculate the actual percentage of radioactive content that we usually absorb without even realizing it.
For example, one banana of 150 grams emits radiation equivalent to 18.5 becquerel, to give us an idea, if we eat a banana every day, 365 bananas per year, the assumed dose would be 0.036 mSv per year. If we compare it with the natural radiation that we absorb for being simply on Earth during one year, which is 2.4 mSv, that of the banana is minimal and insignificant.
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