Measurement of the Radon Concentration and Annual Effective Dose in Malva sylvestris (Khabbaz) Plant Used in Traditional Medicine and Food

In this study, the radon gas concentration as well as the annual effective dose in leaves of the Malvasylvestris (Khabbaz) plant used in the traditional treatment and as food in Iraq, for this, it is necessary to evaluate the concentrations radon gas, which were measured using solid state nuclear track detectors (SSNTDs) CR-39 technique. The Rn 222 concentration and annual effective dose in samples were collected from Baghdad city ranged from minimum to maximum value 15.815(Bq m ⁄ ), 0.498(mSvy), 54.445(Bq m ⁄ ), 1.717(mSvy) respectively, while the values of Rn 222 concentration and annual effective dose in a sample collected from Karbala are 15.297(Bq m ⁄ ),0.482(mSvy). These values of Rn 222 concentration and annual effective dose less were compared with the samples from Baghdad. The annual effective dose lies well within the safe limits as recommended by WHO. So, the uses of Malvasylvestris plant are in traditional medicine and as a safe food for human consumption.


Introduction:
In most countries, there is a common and widespread use of plants in the therapeutic, predating the introduction of antibiotics and other modern drugs (1). Everywhere throughout the world, crude pieces of plants and their concentrates are utilized in the therapeutic items. It is additionally evaluated that 25% of current drugs are gotten from therapeutic plants of which a large portion of them are blooming plants. There are over 250,000 flowering seeds kinds that function as resources for the preparation of recent drugs (2). More than 80% of the world's population still depends on traditional medicines for different diseases, and natural products have been used worldwide for medicinal purposes for thousands of years (1,3). Iraq has a long history in this respect. For thousands of years, the population has a tradition of using herbs and other medicinal plants 1 in the traditional therapy of many diseases, which preceded the use of modern drugs and other antibiotics.
Currently, modern medicine and traditional or alternative medicine are not exclusive, rather complementary to each other (4). Nevertheless, medicines based on plants introduce an elevated activity, safety, and minimum side effects and offer treatment for age-related disorders like memory loss, osteoporosis, immune disorders for which no modernistic medicine is available (2). The World Health Organization (WHO) defines medicinal plants as herbs which have been proven or thought to have medicinal effects. So, the study of the elemental content in plants used for food and medicinal purposes is very necessary because some of these elements are closely related to human health (5). The soil, water, plants, and air are considered as the basic component of our life support system. These environmental sections include a measurable quantity of radioactivity. The particular metabolic character of the plant kind may lead to gathering of radionuclides in their organs, which could further relate to the physico-chemical characteristics of the soil, hence there may be raised risk to human by means of food chai (6). The major sources of elements from the environment to plants are: air, water, and the soil. The radionuclides existing in the environment transport to plants by means of absorption from the soil throughout roots, and straight absorption by way of aerial parts of the plants. Presence of radioactivity in plant organs has been reviewed by various researchers (6). Rn 222 , a progeny of 238 that is everywhere present in the earth crust, and from the gases, have great mobility to get in geological media. Radon has a fact that it has a major health hazard on human. The Radon progeny is well established as causative agents of lung cancer and other types of cancers (7).
Because of its prolonged, Rn 222 (T 1/2 = 3.82d) in addition to the emission of 5.48 MeV a-particles during its decay, it is considered as the most important isotope in the environmental surveys. Therefore, Radon and its short-lived decay yields is considered as the principal supply of public exposure from the natural contributing to closely 50% of the universal effective dose to population (8,9). Among the numerous species of plant used in herbal medicine and as food in Iraq, Malvasylvestrisis a sample of plant growing naturally at the end of winter, especially in uncultivated areas and empty spaces under the shade of trees and helps the raininess to grow this plant. Currently, the consumption of Malvasylvestris seeds is widespread, since recent research confirmed the significance of its therapeutic properties, such as antioxidant, antiinflammatory, anti-ulcerogenic, anticancer, and skin tissue safety (10). Malvasylvestris is generally used as a food and medicinal seeds in the countryside. The flowers of this plant are used as a therapy for digestive problems, eczema, cut wound, bronchitis, inflammations, and dermal infected wounds. With regard to the outcomes of wang (2005), anthocyanins from Malvasylvestris can efficiently decrease the overall cholesterol and triglycerides of plasma (11). The aim of this work is to measure the Radon concentrations in Malvasylvestris plant known locally as "Khabbaz" growing naturally in Iraq during winter.

Material and Methods: Sampling Preparation
A total of five  54537°N, 44.2133°E). These samples were collected randomly from different locations of these cities during winter. The geographical situations of sampling locations were concluded by utilizing a Global Positioning System (GPS) as shown in Fig.  1. All samples were pretreated by washing in water to clean them and to remove all sands. The samples were dried in a microwave at the temperature of 60°C, and milled using a blender to obtain equal size particles using (1micron) mesh to obtain uniform particle size.

Measurement Technique
Each of Malvasylvestris samples weighing about 35g placed in the plastic container was 13cm height and 10cm diameter, as shown in Fig. 2. A sheet of CR-39 detector was cut into pieces of dimensions 1 2 and affixed to the bottom of the plastic container cover. The detectors were allowed to expose to Radon and its progeny for 60 days to get a clear view of the effects. Then, CR-39 detectors were taken out from the plastic container, and etched for 6 hours into 6.25N NaOH solutions at 60°C in the laboratory. After etching, detectors were washed with distilled water, and dried. Eventually, the detectors were examined utilizing an optical microscope at a magnification of 400X to count the number of alpha tracks per 2 recorded on the plastic detectors.

Figure 2. Sealed-cup technique of CR-39
The tracks density is measured by using eq. 1 (12): ρ = N A ……. 1 where: ρ is the track density number (tracks/ 2 ),N is the median of overall tracks, and A: Area of field view. The Radon gas concentration was measured using the relation 9: is Radon concentration (Bq m 3 ⁄ ), η is the calibration coefficient of CR-39 detector in (tracks cm −2 day −1 /Bqm −3 ), and T= exposure time in day. The annual effective dose H E is estimated according to the following relation (13)

Results and Discussion:
The results of 222 concentration in the plant samples under this study are shown in Table 1 Table 1. It varied from 0.498mSv/y (University of Baghdad), 1.243mSv/y (Yusufiyah), 1.603mSv/y (Kadhimiya) and 1.717mSv/y (Abu Ghurayb) in Baghdad, and 0.482mSv/y, in Karbala. The high value of the annual effective dose in this study was 1.717mSv/y from (Abu Ghurayb) in Baghdad. This value is in the range of the permissible limits recommended by world health organization (WHO) (14) which is equal to 1-3mSv/y. The Radon concentration and annual effective dose of this study were compared with the other studies, we found them similar and close to literature, as shown in Table 2.