Radiological Benefit-Risk Index for Food (IRBRF)
Embedded Files
This page hosts the software for the Radiological Benefit-Risk Index for Food (IRBRF) calculator.
The IRBRF was developed to address a gap in food safety assessment. While international bodies like the ICRP provide robust tools for calculating the radiological dose from ingesting radionuclides, there has been no unified framework to weigh that radiological risk against the nutritional benefits of food. The IRBRF was created to be a simple, quantitative tool that bridges this gap, providing an integrated measure that balances a food's nutritional profile with its radiological risk.
You can download the calculator by clicking the link below. The primary scientific article detailing the IRBRF framework can also be accessed through the adjacent link. This paper presents a comprehensive radiological evaluation of 13 flours from Brazilian sociobiodiversity, establishes the first radiometric characterization for many of these products, and details the development and application of the IRBRF index to differentiate their safety profiles.
Download the IRBRF Calculator v1.0 here (via Google Drive) or here (via Zenodo)
Access the main IRBRF article here (via Google Drive) or here (via Food Chemistry/Elsevier in Open Acess)
Note: It is possible that upon running the program, Windows Defender will display a security warning. This can happen because the program was built using Tkinter for its graphical interface. If this occurs, please click "More info" and then "Run anyway" to proceed.
Figure. Graphical interface of the IRBRF software showing an example of a calculation for a food item in the category 'General Foods'
Collaboration and feedback
This project is a continuing effort. Feel free to reach out if you have new ideas on how to improve the program/methodology, suggestions for enhancements, or an interest in collaboration.
How to cite this work
If you use the IRBRF software or its methodology in your research, please cite the following publications:
Faria da Silva, L. da, Almeida, E. L., Thalhofer, J. L., Orejuela, C. O. P., Silva, L. B. da, & Silva, A. X. da. (2026). Composition of natural radionuclides, toxic metals, and oxides in traditional biodiversity-sourced flours: radiological risk assessment and development of the Radiological Benefit-Risk Index for Foods (IRBRF). Food Chemistry. 520, Article 149707. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2026.149707
Faria da Silva, L., Barbosa da Silva, L., Vendramini, A. L. do A., Pastrana Orejuela, C. O., Thalhofer, J. L., Barreto Júnior, A. G., Corrêa Barbosa Lima, I., & Xavier da Silva, A. (2025). Intra-plant radionuclides distribution in cocoa and nuts: Implications for dietary risk assessment. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 148(1), 108130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2025.108130
Faria da Silva, L., Barbosa da Silva, L., Dutra Garcez, R. W., Fernandes, T. S., Lopes, J. M., Mello, C. R., Kuster de Souza Paiva, A., & Xavier da Silva, A. (2022). An assessment of committed effective dose and lifetime cancer risk due to the ingestion of infant milk. Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 190, 110468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2022.110468
Citing this papers ensures the reproducibility of your results and supports the continued development and maintenance of the IRBRF project. Beyond reproducibility, citations allow us to track how the index is being applied, enabling the identification of potential improvements, bug fixes, and methodological refinements. Also, as academic funding and opportunities are closely tied to citation metrics, your support directly contributes to the advancement of Radioecology and Environmental Radiation as research fields. We appreciate your support in giving visibility to research in radioecology.
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