| Summary: | As part of monitoring the exposure of the general public to natural
radioactivity, the activity concentration of naturally occurring
radionuclides in soil samples in an elevated radiation background area of
Western Ghats was determined using gamma-ray spectrometry. Average values
of the activity concentration of radionuclides, outdoor terrestrial gamma
dose rate, annual effective dose equivalent and radiation hazard indices
from soil activity were estimated. The activity concentrations of 232Th and
average outdoor terrestrial gamma dose rate were found to be higher than the
world average, possibly affecting the Western Ghats environment in general.
Therefore, radiological risks to the general population from ionizing
radiation from the naturally occurring radionuclides in the soil are
considered to be significant. How- ever, other radiological hazard indices
were found to be within permissible limits.
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