Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-019-06645-z Exposure risk assessment of uranium intake of the milk products from the region of Pernambuco, Brazil Romilton dos Santos Amaral 1  · José Araújo dos Santos Júnior 1  · Fabiana da Silva Aquino 1  · Bruno de Albuquerque Amaral 1  · Zahily Herrero Fernández 1  · Mariana Brayner Cavalcanti Freire Bezerra 1  · Arykerne Nascimento Casado da Silva 1  · Djalma Cordeiro dos Santos 2  · Josineide Marques do Nascimento Santos 1  · Alberto Antônio da Silva 1,3  · Filipe Lopes de Barros Correia 1 Received: 1 April 2019 © Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2019 Abstract In a project sponsored by the NUCLEBRÁS, were mapped uraniferous anomalies in the municipalities of Pedra and Ven‑ turosa, in the rural region of Pernambuco, Brazil. As these municipalities are the main milk producers in this State, it was of interest in this work to investigate the levels of natural uranium in milk, curdled cheese and milk whey, produced by the cattle in these districts and nearby areas. Conventional uranium fuorimetry was used for analyses. The concentrations of uranium were higher in the milk whey. The milk and cheese produced in this area are insufcient to produce toxicity in the kidneys of humans. Keywords Cheese · Health · Ingestion · Milk · Uranium Introduction Milk is an important source of nutrients for all ages. The presence of radionuclides in milk can be related to the use of phosphate fertilizers in herbaceous crops and forage grasses. Another important factor is the mineral supplement given to the cattle to improve reproductive efciency and increase milk production. The mineral supplement is in most cases a mixture of common salt and concentrated mineral salt [1]. This mixture contains a signifcant amount of dical‑ cium phosphate which is the main source of phosphorus for * Romilton dos Santos Amaral romilton@ufpe.br José Araújo dos Santos Júnior jaraujo@ufpe.br Fabiana da Silva Aquino fasiaquino@gmail.com Bruno de Albuquerque Amaral bruno.aamaral@ufpe.br Zahily Herrero Fernández zahily1985@gmail.com Mariana Brayner Cavalcanti Freire Bezerra maribrayner@yahoo.com.br Arykerne Nascimento Casado da Silva ary_casado@yahoo.com.br Djalma Cordeiro dos Santos djalma.73@hotmail.com Josineide Marques do Nascimento Santos josineide.santos@ufpe.br Alberto Antônio da Silva albertosilva@ipojuca.ifpe.edu.br Filipe Lopes de Barros Correia flipelbck@gmail.com 1 Grupo de Radioecologia (RAE), Departamento de Energia Nuclear (DEN), Centro de Tecnologia e Geociências (CTG), Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Avenida Professor Luiz Freire 1000, Cidade Universitária, Recife, PE 50740‑540, Brazil 2 Companhia Pernambucana de Pesquisas Agropecuárias (IPA), Governo do Estado de Pernambuco, Fazenda Experimental, BR 232, Km 252, Zona Rural, Arcoverde, PE 56519‑360, Brazil 3 Departamento de Petroquímica, Instituto Federal de Pernambuco (IFPE), PE‑60, S/N, California, Ipojuca, PE 55590‑000, Brazil