Radionuclides and radon levels in soil and ground water from solid minerals-hosted area, south-western Nigeria

Abstract

In this study, we determine the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides, 238U, 232Th and 40K, in soil from solid mineral-hosted site. The dose rates were calculated and radon concentration in the ground water system was measured. The radionuclides were determined using the HPGe detector-driven gamma spectrometric technique and the RAD7/RAD H2O system was used to determine the radon concentrations. Some radionuclides in the samples including the mineral, Mica, and some of the ground water samples, especially from well and borehole, had high activity and radon concentrations. We concluded that the two mica-granite geological structure and the depth of the source is a predominant factor for high radon concentration and definitely contributed to the level observed in the borehole sources. The relatively high levels of the radionuclides and radon indicate certain level of health risk. Though the effective dose seemed low, effects of prolonged exposure to radiation is still possible.