Radiological Risk due to Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials in the Soil of Al-Samawah Desert, Al-Muthanna Governorate, Iraq

• Main Authors: Fouad Majeed, Ali Abojassim, Ahmed Ali
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mashhad University of Medical Sciences 2019-09-01
• Series: Iranian Journal of Medical Physics
• Subjects: gamma rays; Natural Radiation Radiological Health
• Online Access: http://ijmp.mums.ac.ir/article_12221_7bbe6bebd93f096683f897bc46254045.pdf
• ISSN: 2345-3672; 2345-3672

<strong><em>Introduction:</em></strong> The risk of radioactivity addresses human life directly. The natural rock radioactivity is mainly due to ²³²Th, ²³⁸U), and ⁴⁰K series. Activities involving blasting, crushing, and processing of rocks into numerous pieces lead to release of radionuclides into the atmosphere in the form of dust particles.<br /> <strong><em>Material and Methods:</em></strong> Sixteen soil samples were collected from various locations of the Al-Samawah desert, Al-Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The specific activities of ²³⁸U, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰ K were measured using NaI(Tl) 3''x3'' gamma-ray spectroscopy.<br /> <strong><em>Results:</em></strong> It is demonstrated that ²³⁸U, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K were 11.53±0.76, 8.70±0.43, and 319.27±4.4 Bq/kg, respectively. The specific activity values were lower than the recommended United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation values. The H_ex with the mean of 0.131 ranged from 0.094 to 0.171. The range for D, R_aeq, and total <em>AEDE</em> were obtained as 17.468-30.967 nGy/h, 34.956-63.173 Bq/kg, and 0.02-0.038 mSv/y, respectively. Moreover, the means of dose rate, radium equivalent activity, and <em>AEDE</em> were 23.893 nGy/h, 48.549 Bq/kg, and 0.029 mSv/y, respectively. The low mean of H_ex, is found to be < 370 Bq/kg.<br /> <strong><em>Conclusion: </em></strong>Results showed that the mean specific activity of ²³⁸U, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K nuclides were lower than the worldwide recommended values. Furthermore, the H_exvalues for all the soil samples were lower than unity and R_aeq as another good indicator was below the value considered as hazard (370 Bq/kg).