The simple and effective technique of fission track etch has been applied to determine trace concentration of uranium in human blood samples taken from two groups of male and female participants: leukemia patients and healthy subjects group. The blood samples of leukemia patients and healthy subjects were collected from three key southern governorates namely, Basrah, Muthanna and Dhi-Qar. These governorates were the centers of intensive military activities during the 1991 and 2003 Gulf wars, and the discarded weapons are still lying around in these regions. CR-39 track detector was used for registration of induced fission tracks. The results show that the highest recorded uranium concentration in the blood samples of leukemia patients was 4.71 ppb (female, 45 years old, from Basrah) and the minimum concentration was 1.91 ppb (male, 3 years old, from Muthanna). For healthy group, the maximum uranium concentration was 2.15 ppb (female, 55 years old, from Basrah) and the minimum concentration was 0.86 ppb (male, 5 years old, from Dhi-Qar). It has been found that the uranium concentrations in human blood samples of leukemia patients are higher than those of the healthy group. These uranium concentrations in the leukemia patients group were significantly different (P < 0.001) from those in the healthy group.

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The technique of nuclear fission track analysis with solid state nuclear track detectors CR-39 has been applied to determine concentrations of uranium in cancerous samples of human tissues that excised from patients in the three key southern Iraqi governorates namely, Basrah, Dhi-Qar, and Muthanna. These provinces were the sites of intensive military events during the Gulf Wars in 1991 and 2003. The investigation was based on the study of 24 abnormal samples and 12 normal samples for comparing the results. These samples include four types of soft tissues (kidney, breast, stomach and uterus). The results show that uranium concentrations in the normal tissues ranged between (1.42-4.76 lg kg -1 ), whereas in the cancerous tissues ranged between (3.37-7.22 lg kg -1 ). The uranium concentrations in the normal tissues were significantly lower than in the abnormal tissues (P \ 0.001).

The technique of fission track has been applied to determine the concentration of uranium in blood samples for people, male and female of Basrah city (south of Iraq), using CR-39 track detector. During the Gulf Wars I and II in 1991 and 2003 respectively, this city became a place of military operations. The measurements were done for samples of human blood for people to study the impact of exposure in this city as compared to results from Babylon city (central Iraq); the latter is far from exposure locations. The results showed that the uranium concentrations in human blood of people in Basrah city ranged from 0.83 ppb to 2.47 while for people in Babylon city, the uranium concentration ranged from 0.3 ppb to 1.59 ppb. It has also been found that the uranium concentration in human blood samples of people in Basrah city is higher than those of people in Babylon city. Results showed statistically significant differences in the uranium concentration in the residential area.

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The spacific activity of naturally radionuclides (226Ra, 212Pb, and 40K) in water samples of Tigris river was tested using a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector at 30 separate locations in tigris river in Iraq’s Salah Al-Din Governorate. The activity concentrations of activity of 226Ra, 212Pb, 137Cs, and 40K ranged from ( 0.056, 0.702, 0.15, 105.12 Bq/L ) to ( 805.6, 75.12, 27.6, 1149.4 Bq/L ), with an average of ( 315.6, 30.8, 12.04, and 509.2 Bq/L) respectively. The average The radium equivalent activity was found to be (397.4 Bg/kg). The absorbed dose rate in air for the samples was also investigated, and its averagr of (185.6 nGyh-1). For one year, the outdoor annual effective doses with an average of (0.23mSv/y), and the indoor annual effective doses with an average of (0.911mSv/y). The external hazard indices, as well as the internal hazard indices, were found to be more than one higher than the global limit, with average values of 2.04 and 2.89, respectively, higher than the global limit. The International Commission on Radiological Safety and Ionizing Radiation’s Biological Effects Radiation risk factors is used to measure the excess lifetime cancer risk.

In the present work, we have measured the radon gas concentrations in tap water samples are taken directly from drinking tap water in sites houses being carried in Thi-Qar governorate by using nuclear track detector (CR-39). The results of measurements have shown that the highest average radon concentration in water samples is found in AL-Refai region which is equal to (0.223 ± 0.03 Bq/L), while the lowest average radon gas concentration is found in AL-Fajr region which is equal to (0.108 ± 0.01 Bq/L), with an average value of (0.175 ± 0.03 Bq/L). The highest value of annual effective dose (AED) in tap water samples is found in AL-Refai region, which is equal to (0.814 μSv/y), while the lowest value of (AED) is found in AL-Fajr region which is equal to (0.394 μSv/y), with an average value of (0.640 ± 0.1 μSv/y). The present results have shown that radon gas concentrations in tap water samples are less than the recommended international value (11.1 Bq/L). There for tap water in all the studied sites in Thi-Qar governorate is safe as for as radon concentration being concerned.

Uranium concentration and the annual committed effective dose in some selected medicinal plants commonly used in Iraq have been determined using fission tracks technique etch in twelve medical plants samples using CR-39 track detector. The results show that the uranium concentration ranged from 0.044±0.021 ppm in Thyme sample to 0.2±0.03 ppm in Black Pepper and Cardamom samples with an average value of 0.14 ±0.0 4ppm. The average annual effective dose due to ingestion of uranium radionuclide was 13.77x10 -5 mSv/y, which is below the world average annual committed effective dose of 0.3 mSv/y for ingestion of natural radionuclides.