Natural Radiation of Chemical Fertilisers and Radiological Impact on Agriculture Soil

Abstract

To investigate, the radiological hazards indices of chemical fertilisers commonly used in agriculture soils of Arasbaran, Iran, the activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in four types of chemical fertilisers were measured by gamma spectrometry system. The concentration range for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were obtained from 54±2.2 to 1585±29.4, 6±0.1 to 157±9.1 and 31±1.5 to 1496 ± 32.8 Bq/kg, respectively. The obtained results showed that the average of radiation hazard parameters for the fertilisers were higher than the reference level for the gamma index(Ig), alpha index(Ia), absorbed dose rate(D), and ambient dose equivalent rate (H*(10)) values. The outcomes give rise to that more parameters values are over the permissible limit, increasing the likelihood of adverse health consequences.