Transfer of 40K, 238U, 210Pb, and 210Po from soil to plant in various locations in south of Syria

Transfer factors of 40K, 238U, 210Pb, and 210Po from soil to some agriculture crops in various locations in south of Syria (Dara'a and Assuwaydaa districts) have been determined. Soil and vegetable crops (green pepper, cucumber, tomato, and eggplant), legumes crops (lentil, chickpea, and broad bean), fruit trees (apple, grape, and olives) and cereals (barley and wheat) were collected and analyzed for 238U, 210Pb, and 210Po. The results have shown that higher transfer factors (calculated as Bq kg−1 dry wt. plant material per Bq kg−1 dry wt. soil) for 210Po, 210Pb and 238U were observed in vegetable leaves than fruits and cereals leaves; the highest values of transfer factor (TF) for 238U were found to be 0.1 for straw of chickpea. Transfer factors for 210Po varied between 2.8 × 10−2 and 2 in fruits of eggplant and grain of barley, respectively. In addition, several parameters affecting transfer factors of the radionuclides were evaluated. The results can be considered as base values for TF of natural radionuclides in the region.