Activity concentration of natural radionuclides and assessment of the associated radiological hazards in the marine croaker (pseudotolitus typus) fish from two coastal areas of Nigeria

The risk assessment associated with radionuclide contamination of Marine Croaker fish widely consumed in two coastal areas of Nigeria was carried out. The activity concentrations of the three radionuclides Uranium-238 (238U), Thorium-232 (232Th), and Potassium-40 (40K) present in the fish samples were determined using gamma-ray spectrometry. The radiological hazard of consuming this fish was assessed by calculating the radium equivalent activity (Raeq), internal hazard index (Hin) of the radionuclides as well as the ingestion effective dose values due to ingestion of radionuclides from fish per year. Comparison of the values obtained from the radiation hazard assessments with the maximum permissible levels of 370 Bq kg-1 for Raeq and 1 for Hin recommended by UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation) (UNSCEAR, 2000) shows that consumption of the contaminated Croaker fish from these two coastal areas studied poses great radiological hazards to the public

Assessment of radioactivity and radiological hazards in commercial ceramic tiles used in Ife-Central, local government area of Osun State, Nigeria

AbstractThe activity concentrations of the natural radionuclides (40K, 232Th and 238U) in ceramic tiles use in homes and offices in Ile-Ife were investigated using a NaI (Tl) detector as the detecting device for gamma spectrometry. The gamma absorbed dose rate (DR), radium equivalent activity (Raeq), annual effective dose (Ad), activity concentration index (I), external radiation index (Hex), internal radiation hazard index (Hin), alpha index (Iα), activity concentration index (Iγ), excess lifetime cancer risk (EC), and annual gonadal dose equivalent (AGd) associated with the radionuclides were evaluated in order to assess the radiation hazard of ceramic tiles used in Ile-Ife. The mean activity concentrations of 850, 24, and 128 Bqkg−1 were obtained for 40K, 232Th, and 238U, respectively. These resulted in an annual effective dose that ranged from 0.07 to 0.2 mSvy−1 with a mean value of 0.14 mSvy−1. The results showed that all the calculated radiological parameters are within the recommended safety limit, hence, do not pose significant radiological hazard when used as building materials.In order to determine the similarities and correlations among various samples, all the radiological variables above were subjected to correlation analysis

Fabrication and characterization of clay-polyethylene composite opted for shielding of ionizing radiation

This study fabricated and characterized a self-sustaining hydrogenous content claypolyethylene composite opted for ionizing radiation shielding. Composites designated A–G were fabricated each containing 0–30 wt% of recycled low density polyethylene (LDPE), respectively. To know the effects of the incorporated LDPE on the morphology, microstructural, compressive strength, thermal property and displacement effect on the vital elements were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), universal mechanical testing machine, differential thermal analysis (DTA), Rutherford backscattering (RBS) technique and particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), respectively. The bulk densities of the clay composites ranged between 1.341 and 2.030 g/cm3. The samples’ XRD analysis revealed similar patterns, with a sharp and prominent peak at angle 2 equals ~26.11 , which matched with card number 16-0606 of the Joint Committee on Powder Diffraction Standards (JCPDS) that represents Aluminum Silicate Hydroxide (Al2Si2O5(OH)4), a basic formula for Kaolin clay. The compressive strength ranged between 2.52 and 5.53 MPa. The ratio of Si to Al in each composite is about 1:1. The dehydroxylation temperature for samples ranged between 443.23 C and 555.23 C.http://www.mdpi.com/journal/crystalsam2022Physic

Assessment of radiological hazard of quarry products from southwest Nigeria

AbstractThe term “quarry products” comprises different natural rocks with different mineral contents, crushed into various sizes at quarries. The concentrations of the naturally occurring radionuclides 40K, 238U and 232Th in quarry products from southwest Nigeria have been measured using gamma ray spectrometry. The gamma absorbed dose rate (DR), radium equivalent activity (Raeq), annual effective dose (Ad), activity concentration index (I), external radiation index (Hex) and internal radiation hazard index (Hin) associated with the radionuclides are evaluated in order to assess the radiation hazard of quarry products used as building materials. The results showed that a few of the calculated radiological parameters are higher than permissible limit, hence, may pose a radiological hazard when used as building materials.All the radiological variables above were subjected to correlation analysis to determine the similarities and correlations among various samples. The data sets consist of 10 measured variables. The principal component Analysis (PCA) yields a two component representation of the acquired data, in which 93.3% of the total variance is explained

Investigation of gamma radiation shielding capability of two clay materials

The gamma radiation shielding capability (GRSC) of two clay-materials (Ball clay and Kaolin)of Southwestern Nigeria (7.49°N, 4.55°E) have been investigated by determine theoretically and experimentally the mass attenuation coefficient, μ/ρ (cm2g−1) of the clay materials at photon energies of 609.31, 1120.29, 1173.20, 1238.11, 1332.50 and 1764.49 keV emitted from 214Bi ore and 60Co point source. The mass attenuation coefficients were theoretically evaluated using the elemental compositions of the clay-materials obtained by Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) elemental analysis technique as input data for WinXCom software. While gamma ray transmission experiment using Hyper Pure Germanium (HPGe) spectrometer detector to experimentally determine the mass attenuation coefficients, μ/ρ (cm2g−1) of the samples. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical calculations of WinXCom software. Linear attenuation coefficient (μ), half value layer (HVL) and mean free path (MFP) were also evaluated using the obtained μ/ρ values for the investigated samples. The GRSC of the selected clay-materials have been compared with other studied shielding materials. The cognizance of various factors such as availability, thermo-chemical stability and water retaining ability by the clay-samples can be analyzed for efficacy of the material for their GRSC. Keywords: Clay materials, WinXCom, Particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE), Gamma radiation shielding capability (GRSC