Statistical assessment of radiation exposure risks of farmers in Odo Oba, Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

The toxicity risks of being over exposed to ionizing radiation in the environments are of great concern to environmental and health scientists. The distribution of radioactivity concentrations of thorium, uranium and potassium were studied in randomly selected soil samples from ten (10) farm locations in Odo Oba, southwestern Nigeria in order to determine the radiological risks of farmers’ exposure to radionuclides. The mean estimation of thorium and potassium are greater than the global average by factors of 1,5 and 2,7, while that of uranium fall below the global average. The estimation of radioactivity ratios showed a depletion of uranium and enrichment of thorium in the study area. Further analysis on the radioelements (that is, thorium, uranium and potassium) showed that 83% of the estimated radiological risks are above the global average. The multivariate analyses involving Pearson’s correlation, Factor Analysis, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis were also used to explain the correlations among the data sets. It was affirmed from the multivariate analysis that the radiological hazards occur as a result of contributions from the three naturally occurring radionuclides. The values obtained in this study revealed that the sampled locations are contaminated zones for farmers.