DETECTION AND DOSIMETRY OF IRRADIATED BIOMINERALS WITH THERMOLUMINESCENCE, RADIOLYOLUMINESCENCE AND ELECTRON-SPIN-RESONANCE MEASUREMENTS - COMPARISON OF METHODS

For seafood and poultry, thermoluminescence (TL), radiolyoluminescence (LL) and electron spin resonance (ESR) measurement have been compared in their applicability for the detection of irradiation. For the biom ineralized shells of six bivalvian and the molt of two crustacean spec ies, and for poultry bones, as well as for natural calcium carbonate m inerals and synthetic calcium carbonate and hydroxyapatite, samples ir radiated with doses of 0, 2.5, 5 and 7.5 kGy were cleaned from soft ti ssue, dried, and ground and the luminescence and ESR signals of the po wder were read out. X-ray diffraction measurements and trace transitio n metal determinations were done to correlate the luminescence and ESR properties to the crystal structure and impurity of the biominerals. TL read out to a maximum temperature of 400 degrees C proved only appl icable for predominantly calcitic shells or crustacean molt, but not f or high-purity CaCO3. LL read out during dissolution in an EDTA-lumino l solution showed to be applicable for both irradiation detection and dosimetry of biominerals, minerals and synthetic reagents, while ESR m easurement proved to be useful in all crystalline samples, but not in X-ray amorphous crustacean molt. The LL method is sensitive for both c alcitic and aragonitic seafood species and therefore a useful compleme ntation for ESR measurement. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.