Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Physics

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Natural Radionuclides in Surface Soil and Quantification of Associated Radiological Hazards in Fatehabad and Hisar districts, Haryana, India


Affiliations
1 Department of Physics, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar 125 001, India
2 Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda 151 401, India
3 Department of Bio & Nano Technology, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar 125 001, India
 

Elevated levels of primordial radionuclides (238U/ 232Th-decay series and 40K) are the foremost source of higher background radiations. Natural radioactive elements may prove precariously radioactive in some situations. So, it is essential to quantify the natural levels of radioactivity in the soil to figure out how much the population is exposed to, what the health risks are, and have a starting point for figuring out how radioactivity in the environment will change due to human activities. In this study natural radioactivity in the soil of different residential areas of Fatehabad and Hisar districts in Haryana, India has been quantified. HPGe gamma spectrometry has been used to quantify the activity of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in the soil of the area under investigation. The respective activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K ranged 32 to 53 Bq kg-1, 23 to 41 Bq kg-1, and 402 to 610 Bq kg-1. The activity equivalent to radium only (Raeq), the air absorbed dose rate (AAD), the effective dose equivalent rate(AEDEC), the gonadal dose equivalent rate (AGDE), the external risk index, the internal risk index, the index for gamma level, cancer risk for an average lifetime, etc. were calculated and compared with the international standards. Each sample of soil had lesser radium equivalent activities than the permissible limit, i.e., 370 Bq kg-1primarily set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the effective dose equivalent was below the safe limit of 1.0 mSv y-1. Organ-specific dose values are pretty considerable but not in the danger zone. The Clark value refuses the probability of finding any uranium ore. This study indicates that the area being studied is a place with low background radiation exposure from radionuclides.

Keywords

Soil; Cancer risk; Natural radioactivity; Hazard index; HPGe detector; Radium equivalent activity.
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  • Natural Radionuclides in Surface Soil and Quantification of Associated Radiological Hazards in Fatehabad and Hisar districts, Haryana, India

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Authors

Shakuntala Rani
Department of Physics, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar 125 001, India
R. S. Kundu
Department of Physics, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar 125 001, India
Vinod kumar Garg
Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda 151 401, India
Balvinder Singh
Department of Physics, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar 125 001, India
Neeraj Dilbaghi
Department of Bio & Nano Technology, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar 125 001, India
Amanjeet Panghal
Department of Physics, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar 125 001, India

Abstract


Elevated levels of primordial radionuclides (238U/ 232Th-decay series and 40K) are the foremost source of higher background radiations. Natural radioactive elements may prove precariously radioactive in some situations. So, it is essential to quantify the natural levels of radioactivity in the soil to figure out how much the population is exposed to, what the health risks are, and have a starting point for figuring out how radioactivity in the environment will change due to human activities. In this study natural radioactivity in the soil of different residential areas of Fatehabad and Hisar districts in Haryana, India has been quantified. HPGe gamma spectrometry has been used to quantify the activity of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in the soil of the area under investigation. The respective activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K ranged 32 to 53 Bq kg-1, 23 to 41 Bq kg-1, and 402 to 610 Bq kg-1. The activity equivalent to radium only (Raeq), the air absorbed dose rate (AAD), the effective dose equivalent rate(AEDEC), the gonadal dose equivalent rate (AGDE), the external risk index, the internal risk index, the index for gamma level, cancer risk for an average lifetime, etc. were calculated and compared with the international standards. Each sample of soil had lesser radium equivalent activities than the permissible limit, i.e., 370 Bq kg-1primarily set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the effective dose equivalent was below the safe limit of 1.0 mSv y-1. Organ-specific dose values are pretty considerable but not in the danger zone. The Clark value refuses the probability of finding any uranium ore. This study indicates that the area being studied is a place with low background radiation exposure from radionuclides.

Keywords


Soil; Cancer risk; Natural radioactivity; Hazard index; HPGe detector; Radium equivalent activity.

References