Radiation doses due to background radioactivity in soil from inhabited area of northern Haryana

Abstract

All the earth crust materials contains radionuclides in varying amount according to geological and environmental conditions which results into external and internal radiation exposure. In addition to building materials soil is also used in construction and hence has fundamental importance in the estimation of radionuclides for human health safety. In this study, natural radioactivity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K are investigated using the gamma spectrometer NaI (Tl) detector coupled with 1K MCA card. Activity concentration of radium, thorium and potassium vary from40.91 to 67.59 Bq/Kg,106.7 to 199.33 Bq/Kg and 698.89 to 1996.62 Bq/Kg with an average of 50.76 ±1.88 Bq/Kg, 154.69 ± 5.76 Bq/Kg and 1092.51 ±112.58 Bq/Kg respectively.In addition, different radiological parameters and hazard indices were calculated from measured gamma ray activities associated with use of these materials.The results in the present study were compared with the world average and also with the reported data available in literature.Estimated radiological hazards are below the recommendation of UNSCEAR andhelp in understanding the status of environmental radioactivity.