Natural radioactivity in soil samples of Kocaeli basin, Turkey

The city of Kocaeli is in the western part of Anatolia in Turkey and has a population of approximately 1.000.000. There is no information about radioactivity in the Kocaeli soils samples so far. For this reason, the concentrations of the natural radionuclides in soil samples from 27 different sampling stations in Kocaeli Basin and its surroundings have been determined. The results have been compared with other radioactivity measurements in different country"s soils. The typical concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs, ²³⁸U, ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th found in surface soil samples ranged from 2±0.6 to 25±6 Bq/kg, from 11±4 to 49±10 Bq/kg, from 161±30 to 964±127 Bq/kg, from 10±4 to 58±11 Bq/kg, and from 11±3 to 65±13 Bq/kg, respectively.     

Measurement of natural radioactivity and radiation hazard assessment in the soil samples of Visakhapatnam,Andhra Pradesh,India

The present work aims to measure and estimate radioactivity and hazardous radiation indices of the soil. Soil samples were collected from various locations in the Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh, India. The measurement of specific activity of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K radionuclides is carried out with the help of HP-Ge based gamma spectrometer system. Activity concentration of radionuclides in the samples ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K ranged from 20 ± 2 to 91 ± 2 Bq.kg^-1, 45 ± 3 to 365 ± 3 Bq.kg^-1, and 400 ± 9 to 607 ± 8 Bq.kg^-1, and the respective mean values are 53.36 Bq.kg^-1, 203.74 Bq.kg^-1 and 479.19 Bq.kg^-1. The measured mean value of the absorbed dose rate is 171.41 nGy.h^-1, which was beyond the worldwide mean outdoor value of 60 nGy.h^-1. Thus, the annual effective dose estimated from the above value is 1.04 mSv.y^-1. The correlation was done among the measured ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K activity concentrations. The estimated radium equivalent dose is 381.60Bq.kg^-1. The estimated health hazard index and annual effective dose rates of dwellers of Visakhapatnam were studied and compared to Indian average values. The study will help to generate the baseline data for assessing hazard indices to the public and geological mapping of natural radiation in India.     

Evaluation of natural gamma radiation and absorbed gamma dose in soil and rocks of Perambalur district (Tamil Nadu,India)

The activity concentrations and absorbed gamma dose of primordial radionuclides ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K were determined employing γ-ray spectrometry in 31 soil samples from the land area earmarked for house construction in Perambalur district and 14 rock samples from quarries that supply stones for the entire district. The soil samples registered relatively a higher mean value of 13.2 Bq kg^?1 for ²³⁸U, 66 Bq kg^?1 for ²³²Th and 340.3 Bq kg^?1 for ⁴⁰K as compared to mean values for rock samples (²³⁸U—8.0 Bq kg^?1; ²³²Th—65.1 Bq kg^?1; ⁴⁰K—199.1 Bq kg^?1). The mean absorbed gamma dose rate for soil (61.4 nGy h^?1) marginally exceeded the prescribed limit of 55 nGy h^?1 while, rocks registered the mean absorbed gamma dose rate of 10.4 nGy h^?1. The mean radium equivalent activity was distinctly higher in soil (130.6 Bq kg^?1) than in rock (20.0 Bq kg^?1). However, these values were lower than the limit (370 Bq kg^?1) set by OECD for building materials. It is evident from the data that the soil and rocks do not pose any radiological risk for house constructions in Perambalur district.     

Natural radioactivity and radiation hazards in some building materials used in Isparta,Turkey

The activity concentrations of uranium, thorium and potassium can vary from material to material and it should be measured as the radiation is hazardous for human health. Thus first studies have been planned to obtain radioactivity of building material used in the Isparta region of Turkey. The radioactivity of some building materials used in this region has been measured using a γ-ray spectrometry, which contains a NaI(Tl) detector connected to MCA. The specific activity for ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K, from the selected building materials, were in the range 17.91–58.88, 6.77–19.49 and 65.72–248.76 Bq/kg, respectively. Absorbed dose rate in air (D), annual effective dose (AED), radium equivalent activities (Ra_eq), and external hazard index (H_ex) associated with the natural radionuclide are calculated to assess the radiation hazard of the natural radioactivity in the building materials. It was found that none of the results exceeds the recommended limit value.     

Measurement of gamma radiation from rocks used as building material in Tiruchirappalli district,Tamil Nadu,India

Tiruchirappalli district is naturally endowed with rich building material resources which are also used in neighboring districts. Hence, measurements of activity concentrations and absorbed dose rate of primordial radionuclides (²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K) in the rock samples collected from 14 sedimentary rocks and 9 igneous rocks were carried out employing gamma ray spectrometry. In sedimentary rocks the geometric mean activity concentrations of ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K were found to be 7.4, 29.5 and 233.6 Bq kg^?1, respectively. On the other hand in igneous rocks geometric mean activity concentrations of ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K were distinctly higher and found to be 13.1, 105.7 and 888.8 Bq kg^?1, respectively. The mean radium equivalent activity (Ra_eq) recorded in both sedimentary (20.8 Bq kg^?1) and igneous rocks (245.4 Bq kg^?1) were well within the limit prescribed for dwellings (370 Bq kg^?1) except Vilathupatti (689.3 Bq kg^?1) and Narthamalai (371.6 Bq kg^?1). The mean absorbed dose rate from igneous rock (115 nGy h^?1) exceeded the prescribed limit of 55 nGy h^?1. The mean indoor annual effective dose from the sedimentary rock (0.056 mSv y^?1) and igneous rock (0.580 mSv y^?1) did not exceed the prescribed limit (1 mSv y^?1) except the igneous rock from Vilathupatti (1.51 mSv y^?1). The study concludes that sedimentary and igneous rocks analyzed were radiologically safe when used as building materials except igneous rock from Vilathupatti and Narthamalai.     

Assessment of soil radioactivity levels and radiation hazards in Guangyao Village,South China

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Single and binary titanium and silicon xerogels were prepared to evaluate and compare their sorption performance with commercial sorbents (Al2O3...     

Natural radioactivity levels and associated radiation hazards in ophiolites around Tekirova,Kemer, and Kumluca Touristic Regions in Antalya,Turkey

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - In this study, the natural radioactivity levels of the ophiolites in the western region of Antalya, their anomaly values, and effects on human...     

Natural radioactivity studies of Bidar soil samples using gamma spectrometry

The activity of the terrestrial primordial radionuclides ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K are measured for Bidar soil samples. The collected soil samples are analyzed using HPGe detector based on high resolution gamma spectrometric system. The activity of the three radionuclides ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K were found to be in the range of BDL–47.68, 7.65–59.08 and BDL–260.65 Bq kg^?1 respectively. The mean gamma absorbed dose rate in air above 1 m from ground is estimated to be 34.47 nGy h^?1. Annual effective dose equivalent and the radium equivalent activity were within the limits in the present study and it is found that the activity of the radionuclides are comparable with the worldwide literature values. Also the external hazard indices for the soil samples of Bidar district were within the limit of unity.     

Natural radioactivity levels and related risk assessment in soil samples from Sakarya,Turkey

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - An evaluation of the environmental radioactivity levels in soil samples from Sakarya province (Turkey) was undertaken in order to create a...     

Natural radioactivity in the soil samples in and around Kudankulam nuclear power plant site

The terrestrial gamma-radiation in soil and sand samples collected around Kudankulam nuclear power plant site, i.e., in Radhapuram Taluk of Tirunelveli District has been measured using NaI(T1) gamma-ray spectrometer. In the soil samples total dose due to three primordial radionuclides lies in the range of 13.1–168.2 nGy/h with a geometric mean of 137.2 nGy/h, which yields an annual effective dose of 0.17 mSv/y. In the sand samples the total dose due to three primordial radionuclides has been found to be in the range of 38.1–1964.4 nGy/h with a geometric mean of 300.8 nGy/h, which gives an annual effective dose of 0.37 mSv/y which is well below the permissible limit (1 mSv).     

Natural radioactivity investigations in soil samples obtained from phosphate hills in the Russaifa region,Jordan

The specific activity, hazard index, and the annual effective dose of the terrestrial naturally occurring radionuclides (²³⁸U, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K) were determined in soil samples obtained from 20 sites of phosphate hills in the Russaifa region using an HPGe-detector of 50% relative efficiency. The resolution is 2 keV for the 1.33 MeV ⁶⁰Co. The soil activity ranged from 5.3 to 1201.1 Bq kg^?1 for ²³⁸U, 2.2 to 31.2 Bq kg^?1 for ²³²Th, and 19.4 to 288.4 Bq kg^?1 for ⁴⁰K. Annual effective dose was found in the range 0.03–0.69 mSv. The external hazard index ranged from 0.15 to 3.29 Bq kg^?1, while the global value given in UNSCEAR, 2000 publications is 1 Bq kg^?1. The average values of the radium equivalent activities were determined for all sites and they were found to be approximately 319 Bq kg^?1. This value is below the limit of 370 Bq kg^?1 recommended by . The average value of the radium equivalent activities for certain locations (sample numbers: 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 14) is above the same limit.     

Assessment of natural radiation hazards and function of heat production rate in lake sediments of Puliyanthangal Lake surrounding the Ranipet industrial area,Tamil Nadu

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - In this work, 238U, 232Th and 40K activity concentration and the associated radiological implications are determined in the lake sediments at...     

Natural and artificial radioactivity in volcanic ash soils of Jeju Island,Republic of Korea,and assessment of the radiation hazards: importance of soil properties

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - In this study, we investigated the activity concentrations of natural (226Ra, 232Th, 40K) and artificial (137Cs) radionuclides of soils in Jeju...     

Assessment of indoor radiation dose received by the residents of natural high background radiation areas of coastal villages of Kanyakumari district,Tamil Nadu,India

Radiation exposure and effective dose received through two routes of exposure, viz. external and internal, via inhalation, by residents of 10 villages belonging to Natural High Background Radiation Areas (NHBRA) of coastal regions of Kanyakumari District and Tamil Nadu in India were studied. While the indoor gamma radiation levels were monitored using Thermo Luminescent Dosimeters (TLDs), the indoor radon and thoron gas concentrations were measured using twin chamber dosimeters employing Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors (SSNTDs, LR-115-II). The average total annual effective dose was estimated and found to be varying from 2.59 to 8.76 mSv.