Determination of radioactive elements and heavy metals in sediments and soil from domestic water sources in northern peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

Soil serves as a major reservoir for contaminants as it posseses an ability to bind various chemicals together. To safeguard the members of the public from an unwanted exposure, studies were conducted on the sediments and soil from water bodies that form the major sources of domestic water supply in northern peninsular Malaysia for their trace element concentration levels. Neutron Activation Analysis, using Nigeria Research Reactor-1 (NIRR-1) located at the Centre for Energy Research and Training, Zaria, Nigeria was employed as the analytical tool. The elements identified in major quantities include Na, K, and Fe while As, Br, Cr, U, Th, Eu, Cs, Co, La, Sm, Yb, Sc, Zn, Rb, Ba, Lu, Hf, Ta, and Sb were also identified in trace quantities. Gamma spectroscopy was also employed to analyze some soil samples from the same area. The results indicated safe levels in terms of the radium equivalent activity, external hazard index as well as the mean external exposure dose rates from the soil. The overall screening of the domestic water sources with relatively high heavy metals concentration values in sediments and high activity concentration values in soil is strongly recommended as their accumulation overtime as a consequence of leaching into the water may be of health concern to the members of the public.

Penilaian Dampak Bahaya Radiologis terhadap Radionuklida Natural di Pesisir Pulau Bengkalis

“…19 Banyak penelitian yang telah dilakukan di seluruh dunia untuk menentukan status radiologis suatu wilayah dengan mengetahui aktivitas dari radionuklida di tanahdansedimen. [19][20][21][22] Beberapa penelitian di Indonesia dalam memperkirakan laju dosis dari lingkungan ke biota juga dilakukan menggunakan program ERICA Tools. 23 Penelitian untuk menentukan laju dosis radionuklida natural juga banyak dilakukan, antara lain yang dilakukan diwilyah Ierissos Gulf, North Aegean Sea, Greece, dengan menggunakan ERICA Tools sebagai perangkat lunaknya.…”

An overview on measurements of natural radioactivity in Malaysia

“…The absorbed dose rate ranged from 49.28 to 607.67 nGy h À1 . Muhammad et al in 2012 reported natural radioactivity in soil collected from northern peninsular Malaysia by using Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA)(Muhammad, Jaafar, Rahman, & Ingawa, 2012). The activity concentrations of 40 K, 226 Ra and 232 Th ranged from 137 ± 6.96 to 331 ± 16.7 Bq kg À1 , 39.96 ± 2.05 to 89.47 ± 4.57 Bq kg À1 and 15.68 ± 1.02 to 37.9 ± 2.44 Bq kg À1 with the mean values of 189 ± 16.45 Bq kg À1 , 51 ± 4.3 Bq kg À1 and 22 ± 1.9 Bq kg À1 , respectively.…”

Bromine and bromide content in soils: Analytical approach from total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry

“…Total bromine content in soil samples is usually determined by solid-state techniques such as instrumental neutron activation analy sis (INAA) (Muhammad et al, 2012) and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) (Sandeep et al, 2014). Despite the high selectivity and sensitivity of INAA, expensive costs, the need for a nuclear reactor for irradiation, and the rather long analysis times imposed by long waiting (cooling) periods for short-lived radioisotopes to decay have restricted its application in some environmental studies.…”