Radiological risk assessment of 238U, 232TH and 40K in the top soils of ahero paddy fields of Kisumu county, Kenya

Abstract

A radiological risk assessment of 238U, 232Th and 40K in the top soils of Ahero paddy fields of Kisumu County has been measured using NaI(TI) gamma ray spectroscopy. A total of 17 samples were collected at a depth of 15 - 20 cm and measured for activity concentrations of three radionuclides which were used to calculate the absorbed dose rates and Annual effective dose rates of the samples. Samples were collected from fields at various stages of farming process i.e. four (4) weeks after transplanting (field 1), during transplanting (field 2), after harvesting and land ploughed (field 3) and a control field (field 4) where rice farming had not been done for 2 years. .The average activity concentrations for the three radionuclides for field 1 were 32.63 3 Bq/kg for 238U, 104.69 Bq/kg for 232Th and 75.00 Bq/kg for 40K. The average activity concentrations of the radionuclides from field 2 were 16.97 68.03 Bq/kg and 70.31 Bq/kg for 238U, 232Th and 40K respectively. The average activity concentrations of the radionuclides from field 3 (post harvesting) were 28.92 Bq/kg, 91.73 and 122.60 Bq/kg for 238U, 232Th and 40K respectively. The average activity concentrations of the radionuclides were 29.74 Bq/kg, 121.11 Bq/kg and 87.51 Bq/kg for 238U, 232Th and 40K respectively. The average Absorbed Dose Rates were 81.5 nGy/h for field 1, 52.59 nGy/h for field 2; 74.68 nGy/h for field 3 and 91.79 nGy/h for field 4. The values were below the permissible limit of 1500 nGy/h, thus the radiological risk associated with the top soils of the Ahero Paddy fields of Kisumu County, Kenya is insignificant.