THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON RADIATION-INDUCED RADICALS IN IRRADIATEDCHICKEN DRUMSTICK BONES

The effect of temperature on the ESR spectra of well characterized uni rradiated and irradiated samples of chicken drumstick bones under stan dardized experimental conditions has been investigated in detail over the temperature range 100-450 K. No significant changes in the linewid th and g factor of the endogenous signal were observed, but the signal intensity was found to decrease markedly in an irreversible way when the temperature was increased. The radiation-induced signal turned out to be the sum of a narrow and a broad line which were assigned to an inorganic and an organic radical, respectively. The thermal stability of the radiation-induced inorganic radical used in poultry irradiation dose determination and in dating was found to be much better than tha t of organic and endogenous radicals. The results of the present work highlight the need to define properly calibration factors which can be used in conjunction with pre- or post-irradiation thermal treatment o f chicken drumstick bones. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.