Evaluation of natural radioactivity of soil samples from different regions of Wassit governorate

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Physics, College of Science, University of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq

2 Department of Physics, College of Education, Al-Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, Iraq

Abstract

The present paper measures natural radioactivity in different areas of Wassit governorate, using (HPGe) detector. Gamma spectrum analysis for each sample along with caululated specific activity show that the average concentrations of U-238, Th-232, and K-40 have been 19.420±4.7 Bq/kg, 18.487±5.05 Bq/kg, and 204.266±46.9 Bq/kg respectively, which is lower than the worldwide average value. While the average value of Radium equivalent, absorbed dose, indoor and outdoor annual effective dose, activity index, and internal and external hazard index for each sample have been found to be 85.182 Bq/kg, 39.962 nGy/h, 0.196 mSv/y, 0.049 mSv/y, 0.374, 0.313, 0.309, and 0.230 respectively, all of them are lower than the permissibility limit value.

Keywords

References

Abusini, M., Al-ayasreh, K. and Al-Jundi, J. (2008). Determination of Uranium, Thorium and Potassium Activity Concentrations in Soil Cores in Arabia Valley, Jordan, Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 128, 2, 213-216.
Alsagii, M.A.W. (1999). The damage caused by the use of radiological weapons on surface water and groundwater in Iraq, Master Thesis, University of Wassit.
Al-Taher, A. and Makhluf, S. (2010). Natural radioactivity levels in phosphate fertilizer and its environmental implications in as suit governorate, Upper Egypt, Indian Journal of Pure & Applied Physics, 48, 697-702.
Arman, E. (2007). An Investigation on the Natural Radioactivity of Building Materials, Raw Materials and Interior Coatings in Central Turkey, Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences, 37, 4,199-203.
Colmenero, S.L., Montero, M.E., Villalba, L., Renterıa, V.M., Torres, M.E., Garcıa, L.M., Garcıa, T.R., Mireles, G.F., Herrera, E.F. and Sanchez, A.D. (2004). Uranium-238 and thorium-232 series concentrations in soil, radon-222 indoor and drinking water concentrations and dose assessment in the governorate of Aldama, Chihuahua, Mexico, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 77, 205-219.
Dia, H.M., Nouh, S.A., Hamdy, A. and EL-Fiki, S.A. (2008). Evaluation of Natural Radioactivity in a Cultivated Area around A Fertilizer Factory, Nuclear and Radiation Physics, 3(1), 53-62.
El-Arabi, A.M. (2005). Gamma activity in some environmental samples in south Egypt, Indian Journal of Pure & Applied Physics, 43, 422-426.
Gordon R.G. (2008). Practical Gamma-ray Spectrometry, 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Britain.
Mireles, F., Davila, J.I., Quirino, L.L., Lugo, J.F., Pinedo, J.L. and Rios, C. (2003). Natural soil gamma radioactivity levels and resultant population dose in the cities of Zacatecas and Guadalupe, Zacatecas, Mexico. Health Physics, 84, 368-372.
Salim, A. and Klis, A. (2010). A Geographical Analysis of Soil Erodability in Wassit Governorate, Journal of College of arts, Al-Basrah University, 1, 54, pp.132-146.
Shawkat, N. (2000). Radioactive pollution and environmental sources in the province of Nineveh, Master Thesis Wassit University.
Standard Operating Procedure to surface and subsurface soil sampling (SOP) (1999). FSSO 002.00, California SOP.
United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) (2000). Sources, Effects and Risks of Ionizing Radiation, New York, United Nations.
Pollution
Volume 3, Issue 1
January 2017
Pages 47-53

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics