Assessment of radioactivity level and radiological parameters in soil samples of Akalad, Thrissur District, Kerala

Abstract

Systematic studies on radiation level and distribution of radionuclides have been carried out using NaI(Tl) detector in different locations of Akalad region, Thrissur District, Kerala. The activity of naturally occurring radionuclides viz. 40K, 226Ra and 232Th in the samples collected from the region were measured and found to vary in the range 9.99±0.69 Bq kg-1 to 32.11±0.77 Bq kg-1 with a mean value 19.64 Bq kg-1; 2.15±0.21Bq kg-1 to 11.28±0.39 Bq kg-1 with a mean value 7.73 Bq kg-1 and 20.80±0.67 Bq kg-1 to 122.40±1.16 Bq kg-1 with a mean value 79.91 Bq kg-1 respectively. The radium equivalent activity varies within the range 39.26 Bq kg-1 to 178.85 Bq kg-1 with a mean value 123.51 Bq kg-1. The absorbed dose rate varies within the range 16.49 nGyh-1 to 79.14 nGyh-1 with a mean value 51.91 nGyh-1. The present systematic investigation indicates that the data are comparable with the reported values elsewhere and in most of the cases observed values were well within the permissible limit.

Keywords

• 226Ra
• 232Th
• 40K
• natural radioactivity
• radiological parameters