| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
|
| Year : 2012 | Volume
: 35
| Issue : 1 | Page : 43-51 |
|
|
Natural radioactivity and dose rates for soil samples around Tiruchirapalli, South India using γ-ray spectrometry
Bojarajan Senthilkumar1, Sabapathy Manikandan2, Mohamed Saiyad Musthafa3
1 Environmental Impact Assessment Division, Hubert Enviro Care Systems (P) Limited, Ashok Nagar, Chennai, India
2 Department of Physics, Perunthaivar Kamarajar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Karaikal, India
3 P.G. and Research Department of Zoology, The New College, Chennai, India
Correspondence Address:
Bojarajan Senthilkumar
Environmental Impact Assessment Division, Hubert Enviro Care Systems (P) Limited, Ashok Nagar, Chennai
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0972-0464.111409
|
|
|
The activity concentrations and the gamma-absorbed dose rates of the naturally occurring radionuclides 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K were determined for 40 soil samples collected from Tiruchirapalli, South India, using g-ray spectrometry. The average activity concentrations of 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K in the soil samples were found to be 29.9, 39.0, and 369.7 Bq kg−1 , respectively. The measured activity concentrations of both 226 Ra and 40 K in the soil were lower than the world average, whereas, the activity of 232 Th was higher than the world average. The concentrations of these radionuclides were also compared with the average activity of the Indian soil. The radiological hazard index was calculated and compared with the internationally approved values. The average external absorbed gamma dose rate was observed to be 79.9 nGy h−1 , with a corresponding average annual effective dose of 97.9 mSv y−1 , which was above the world average values. The values of Ra eq and H ex were found to be within the criterion limit, whereas, the radioactivity level index ( Ig) and total gamma dose rate were above the worldwide average values. |
|
|
|
| [FULL TEXT] [PDF]* |
|
 |
|
Search Pubmed for