Radioactivity in soil from Mojkovac, Montenegro, and assessment of radiological and cancer risk

Abstract

Soil samples from Mojkovac, Montenegro, were analyzed by standard gamma-spectrometry for radioactivity due to 226Ra, 232Th, 40K, and 137Cs. Average activity concentrations have been found to be 28.6, 43.1, 620.8, and 55 Bq/kg, respectively. In order to evaluate the radiation hazard, radium equivalent activity, absorbed dose rate, annual effective dose, external and internal hazard indexes, and the annual gonadal dose equiv a lent were deter mined and found to be at an aver age of 133.79 Bq/kg, 65.18 nGy/h, 79.93 μSv/y, 0.37, 0.45, and 0.46 mSv/y, respectively. With life expectancy taken to be 70 years, a mean life time outdoor gamma radiation was calculated as 5.6 mSv, yielding a life time cancer risk of 2.8·10 -4.