Thermoluminescent Dust for Identification of Irradiated Spices

• Published in: Radiation protection dosimetry 1990-01, Vol.34 (1-4), p.319-322
• Main Authors: Göksu, H.Y., Regulla, D.F., Hietel, B., Popp, G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0144-8420; 1742-3406
• DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.rpd.a080912

It is shown that most of the natural products contain minute amounts of wind blown or intruding dust which can be separated and used to identify irradiated spices by measuring its thermoluminescence (TL). The method has several advantages over the use of the whole grains of spices. There is no spurious signal due to oxidation of the organic components, therefore the samples can be heated to higher temperatures at which more stable TL peaks are accessible. As a consequence, the method provides (1) high reliability in indentification, (2) an access to a quantitative assessment of the administered dose even after some years, (3) determination of the time elapsed between the food irradiation and the TL readout. Thermoluminescent dust obtained from cumin, green pepper, sage, rosemary, mugwort, lovage, thyme, dill weed, oregano, savory, marjoram and basil is investigated.