CHERNOBYL RADIOACTIVITY IN TURKISH TEA AND ITS POSSIBLE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES

Like sevaral other European countries, Turkey has been affected by the radioactive clouds arising from the Chernobyl reactor accident. There were two major fronts. The first one affected the western parts of Tu rkey, namely Thrace, Istanbul and Western Black Sea coast, starting fr om April 30th 1986. The second cloud affected the Eastern Black Sea co ast at the beginning of May 1986. In both regions the clouds left thei r radioactive content with the heavy rains. Eastern Sea coast is one o f the regions receiving highest volume of rainfall almost all year rou nd. However, after the accident, the rains loaded with radioactive con taminants felt just before the tea collection period and the contamina ted tea leaves were collected without finding a chance for cleaning wi th following rains. All of the tea consumed by Turkish people grows on a very narrow coastal line along the Eastern Black Sea. In this study , the results of radioactivity measurement on Turkish tea are summariz ed. Although there were other affected products in the region, e.g., h azelnuts, tobacco, vegetables, their level of contamination and yearly consumption rates were not as significant as tea. Tea is the major ho t beverage consumed by Turkish people of all ages, but unfortunately i t turned out to be one of the heavily contaminated products of Turkey. Tile effect of brewing and rinsing with hot water on tea were also in vestigated in the present work. The dose estimates from the tea consum ption was done following a different approach than previous studies. I nstead of using the radioactivity data obtained by measuring only limi ted number of contaminated tea samples in our laboratories, the data r eported by the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency Authority covering all til e tea product of 1986 were used for dose estimates. In addition the co llective effective dose equivalent in Turkey was estimated. Although i n this study contamination only in one product, namely tea, was discus sed, it turned out to he important as it was consumed by large populat ions in Turkey, so contributed to tile doses significantly. Precaution s to be taken were summarized, one simple precaution ''rinsing of tea before brewing'' was sufficient to remove half of the contamination fr om tea without any drawbacks.