Quantification of radiological hazards associated with natural radionuclides in soil, granite and charnockite rocks at selected fields in Ekiti State, Nigeria
Matthew Omoniyi Isinkaye,
Olusola Amos OlaOlorun,
Ananthanarayanan Chandrasekaran,
Adebayo Samuel Adekeye,
Tunde Emmanuel Dada,
Azhagesan Tamilarasi,
Vilvanathan Sathish,
Mayeen Uddin Khandaker,
Abdullah Almujally,
Nissren Tamam,
Abdelmoneim Sulieman
Affiliations
Matthew Omoniyi Isinkaye
Radiation, Health and Environmental Physics Research Group, Department of Physics, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria; Corresponding author.
Olusola Amos OlaOlorun
Department of Geology, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria
Ananthanarayanan Chandrasekaran
Department of Physics, Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering (Autonomous), Chennai 603110, Tamil Nadu, India
Adebayo Samuel Adekeye
Radiation, Health and Environmental Physics Research Group, Department of Physics, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria
Tunde Emmanuel Dada
Radiation, Health and Environmental Physics Research Group, Department of Physics, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria
Azhagesan Tamilarasi
Department of Physics, Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering (Autonomous), Chennai 603110, Tamil Nadu, India
Vilvanathan Sathish
Department of Physics, Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering (Autonomous), Chennai 603110, Tamil Nadu, India
Mayeen Uddin Khandaker
Centre for Applied Physics and Radiation Technologies, School of Engineering and Technology, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway 47500, Selangor, Malaysia; Faculty of Graduate Studies, Daffodil International University, Daffodil Smart City, Birulia, Savar, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh
Abdullah Almujally
Department of Biomedical Physics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Nissren Tamam
Department of Physics, College of Sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia
Abdelmoneim Sulieman
Radiology and Medical Imaging Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, P.O.Box 422, Alkharj, 11942, Saudi Arabia
Assessment of activity levels of radionuclides that exist in soil, granite, and charnockite rock samples is very crucial because it exhibits an enhanced elemental concentration of uranium (U) and thorium (Th) contributing higher natural background activity than usual in the environment and it may cause health risk to human health through the external and internal exposure. This study determined the radioactivity levels of 238U, 232Th, and 40K radionuclides in soil, granite, and charnockite rock samples collected from selected fields in Ekiti State, Nigeria using Caesium iodide CsI(Tl) scintillation gamma spectrometer. It also evaluated indices of the radiological parameters consisting of radium equivalent activity (Raeq), absorbed dose rate (DR), annual effective dose equivalent (AEDE), internal hazard index (Hin), and excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR). The calculated average activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th, and 40K are 30.40 ± 0.71 Bq kg−1, 3.31 ± 0.05 Bq kg−1, and 222.25 ± 14.72 Bq kg−1, respectively, which were lower than their respective world average values. Comparatively, potassium concentrations in these collected samples have a higher value than concentrations of uranium and thorium (40K > 238U > 232Th). All the evaluated values of the radiological parameters (except DR) of the appraised radionuclides were below the global permissible limits. The granite rocks, charnockite rocks, and soils from Ekiti State in Nigeria do not pose any hazardous risk to humans, but continued monitoring is necessary when these materials are used as building materials, which cause long-term radiation exposure.
