Brazil nuts are popular as a ‘natural supplement’ among vegetarians and vegans due to their high selenium content. The recommended intake is 1-2 nuts per day. However, as Brazil nuts also contain high levels of radioactive radium isotopes in some cases, scientific research into the exact content is required in order to derive recommendations for long-term intake. In the newly published review by Dr Christian Köder and Dr Markus Keller, the relevant literature on the radium content of Brazil nuts was researched and the results summarised. The average content of the isotopes Ra-226 and Ra-228 in Brazil nuts was 49 (17-205) mBq/g and 67 (12-235) mBq/g respectively. With a consistent daily intake of two Brazil nuts, the effective dose is approx. 88-220 μSv/year. This dose can be categorised as neither clearly harmful nor clearly harmless.
The paper can be downloaded here free of charge.
New paper on radium contamination of Brazil nuts published
