Evaluation of natural radioactivity levels and potential radiological hazards of common building materials utilized in Mediterranean region, Turkey

Abstract

Radiometric measurement of building materials is very important to assess the internal and external exposure caused by the ionizing radiation emitted from terrestrial radionuclides in building materials. The activity concentrations of 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K in fifty-eight samples of fifteen different structural and covering building materials commonly used in Osmaniye province located in the Mediterranean region of Turkey were measured by using gamma-ray spectroscopy. The activity concentrations of 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K varied from 2.5 ± 0.1 (marble) to 145.7 ± 4.4 (clay brick), 1.3 ± 0.1 (marble) to 154.3 ± 4.1 (marble) and 8.6 ± 0.2 (sand) to 1044.1 ± 70.3 (granite), respectively. Radiological parameters (activity concentration index, alpha index, indoor absorbed gamma dose rate and the corresponding annual effective dose rate, and excess lifetime cancer risk) were estimated to evaluate the health hazards associated with these building materials. Since the estimated values of these parameters are within the recommended safety limits or criteria values, the use of the studied building materials in the construction of dwellings can be considered to be safe for the residents of the region.

Geochemical characteristics, hazards impact assessment and radiogenic heat production of the alkaline rocks

“…One of the most important human activities associated with natural resource exploitation is the use of rocks as building materials. Exposure to radiation from these materials can occur through the decay of the radioactive elements over a long period of time and cause a risk to human health, depending on the level and duration of exposure 12 , 13 . Therefore, it is important to consider examining rocks for radioactivity before using them as building materials.…”

Investigation of Building Materials’ Radioactivity in a Historical Building—A Case Study

“…Besides the activity concentration index, several others have been developed over the years to evaluate the radiation exposure due to building material, e.g., alpha index [ 10 ], indoor and outdoor hazard indices [ 15 ], different dose parameters [ 16 , 17 , 18 ]. Several studies have been presented concerning the natural radioactivity of building materials [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ], based on which it can be concluded that conventional building materials do not pose a radiological hazard due to gamma radiation and rarely exceed the EU annual dose criterion for radiation protection. The worldwide average activity concentrations in building materials are 35 Bq/kg for 226 Ra, 30 Bq/kg for 232 Th, and 400 Bq/kg for 40 K which correspond to a dose of 0.25 mSv/y [ 14 ].…”