Measurement of radioactivity in the soil of Bahawalpur division, Pakistan

Abstract

Bahawalpur is the largest division of the Punjab province in Pakistan. It is larger than many countries of the world. Gamma activity from the naturally occurring radionuclides namely 226Ra, 232Th, the primordial radionuclide 40K and the artificial radionuclide 137Cs was measured in the soil of the Bahawalpur division using gamma spectrometry technique. The mean activity of 226Ra, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs were found to be 32.9 +/- 0.9, 53.6 +/- 1.4, 647.4 +/- 14.1 and 1.5 +/- 0.2 Bq kg(-1), respectively. The mean radium equivalent activity Raeq, external hazard index, internal hazard index and terrestrial absorbed dose rate for the area under study are 158.5 +/- 4.1 Bq kg(-1), 0.4, 0.5 and 77.32 nGy h(-1), respectively. The annual effective dose equivalent to the public was found to be 0.5 mSv.

Measurement of soil radioactivity levels and radiation hazard assessment in southern Rechna interfluvial region, Pakistan

“…4 and 5, A Th , A Ra , and A K represent activity concentrations of 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K. It may be noted here that indoor hazard index was calculated to determine the radiation hazard to respiratory organs due to 222 Rn (decay product of 226 Ra) and its other short-lived decay products. To account for the radiation hazards, the maximum permissible concentration for radium must be reduced to half of the normal limit (Matiullah et al 2004). If the value of indoor or outdoor radiation hazard index is found to be less than unity, then there is no potential indoor or outdoor radiation hazard.…”

Determination of radon exhalation from granite, dolerite and marbles decorative stones of the Azad Kashmir area, Pakistan

“…In the past several decades, radon exhalation rate from building materials has remained the subject of many studies (Abu-Jarad et al 1980;Tufail et al 2000;Rahman et al 2007bRahman et al , 2009Rahman et al , 2008Ahmed et al 1998;Matiullah et al 2004). Since building materials are a significant source of indoor radon, therefore, remedial actions have to be taken in addition to the ventilation to reduce the concentration of indoor radon.…”

Determination of Radiological Hazard Associated with the use of Imayan River Sediment as Building Material

“…The radioactivity concentrations of natural radionuclides obtained from the sediments of Imayan river are shown in (Matiullah et al, 2004). (UNSCEAR, 2000), and this translates to the mean annual effective dose rate of 0.022 mSvy -1 .…”