Intake of 210Po, 234U and 238U radionuclides with wine in Italy

Wine is a widely consumed beverage in the world. Natural radioactivity has been measured in drinking and mineral water and soft but there are not data for wine. For this beverage, data are reported only on the artificial radioactivity (particularly 137Cs) after Chernobyl. The composition of wine is influenced by many factors related to the specific production as area, grape varieties, soil and climate and viticultural practices. There are several sources contributing to wine contamination, and it is known that radionuclides occur in wine from fruit contamination which can result from direct deposition on fruit surfaces, absorption by the fruit skin and transport to the pulp, deposition to soil, root uptake and transfer to fruit . This study provides some information on the levels of natural radionuclides 238U, 234U isotopes and 210Po in samples of red and white wine product in the different Italian regions. The committed effective dose from 210Po, 234U and 238U for the individual local public through wine ingestion was calculated. The results show that, for most of the samples, the 210Po concentration is ten times higher than that of 238U. This fact is probably due to fallout of atmospheric polonium on the leaves of the vines and on the grape.The data also indicate that, in wine, the uranium concentration is lower that in water, whereas, the polonium concentration is higher that in water.