Assessment of dose due to exposure to indoor radon and thoron progeny

The components of the effective dose through inhalation from radon and its progeny are important for human health since they contribute to more than 50% of the total radiation dose from natural sources. As a consequence, radon has been identified as the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking. Radon and its short lived decay products (218Po, 214Pb, 214Bi, 214Po) present in dwellings are a radiation hazard, particularly if such sources are concentrated in the enclosed areas like poorly ventilated houses and underground mines. The indoor radon, thoron, and progeny concentrations were measured in a small hilly town of Budhakedar and the surrounding area of Tehri Garhwal, India, by using LR-115 Type II plastic track detector in a twin cup radon dosimeter. The concentrations of radon progeny were measured as the highest in winter and the lowest in summer while the thoron progeny concentration was found maximum in rainy season and minimum in autumn. The annual exposure to the potential alpha energy of radon and thoron were found to vary from 0.04 WLM to 0.69 WLM with an average value of 0.29 WLM, and 0.03 WLM to 0.37 WLM with an aver- age value of 0.16 WLM, respectively. The annual effective dose due to the exposure to indoor radon and progeny in Budhakedar homes was found to vary from 0.16 mSv to 2.72 mSv with an average value of 1.14 mSv and the effective dose due to the exposure to thoron and progeny was found to vary from 0.18 mSv to 2.49 mSv with an average value of 1.05 mSv. The results of systematic study have been obtained by considering the room as a space in which the radon and thoron levels are directly related to the dynamic and static parameters

Natural Radionuclide Analysis in Chattrapur Area of Southeastern Coastal Area of Odisha, India

The energy released in a spontaneous decay process of naturalradionuclides is the main source of the total radiation dose to humanbeings. Natural radionuclides are widely distributed in soil, rocks, air,and groundwater. In present investigation, the analysis of terrestrialradionuclides such as 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in soil and sand of Chattarpurarea of southeastern coast of Odisha has been carried out using NaI(Tl)gamma ray detector. The higher activity concentrations of naturallyoccurring radionuclides have been reported from the study area. Thegamma radiationdose originating from the terrestrial radionuclides wasfound to vary from 95 to 1813 nGy/h with an average of 700 nGy/h. Thisstudy is important to generate a baseline data of radiation exposure in thearea. Health hazard effects due to natural radiation exposure arediscussed in details

Distribution of radionuclides and associated radiological risk assessment of soils from Niška Banja, Serbia

The activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were determined in 43 soil samples collected from 0 to 10 cm and 10 to 50 cm depths of Niška Banja region, Serbia, using a low background gamma spectroscopy with 3″ × 3″ NaI(Tl) scintillation detector. The mean absorbed dose rate of 0–10 cm and 10–50 cm depth soil were 66.1 and 60.4 nGy/h, respectively which was close to UNSCEAR worldwide value. The radium equivalent and annual effective dose effect were lower than the permissible level. Therefore, there is no significant radiological risk from the soil to residents living in this region. © 2023, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary

Field Experience with Soil Gas Mapping Using Japanese Passive Radon/Thoron Discriminative Detectors for Comparing High and Low Radiation Areas in Serbia (Balkan Region)

Radon/Thoron/Natural radioactivity/Niska Banja/Obrenovac. Based oil results of fieldwork in the Balkan Region of Serbia from 2005 to 2007, soil gas radon and thoron concentrations as well as gamma dose rates were measured. Campaigns were conducted in two different geological regions: Niska Banja, considered a high natural radiation area, and Obrenovac around the TentB Thermal Power Plant (TPP), a low natural radiation area. Radon and thoron gas measurements were made by using two types of Japanese passive radon/thoron detectors, Which included GPS data and gamma dose rates. The concentrations of soil radon gas in Niska Banja ranged from 1.8 to 161.1 kBq m(-3) the concentrations for soil thoron gas ranged from 0.9 to 23.5 kBq m(-3). The gamma close rates varied from 70 to 320 nGy h(-1). In the TentB area, radon concentration was found to range from 0.8 to 24.9 kBq m(-3) and thoron from 0.6 to 1.9 kBq m(-3). The gamma dose rate ranged from 90 to 130 nGy h(-1). In addition, the natural radioactivity of the soil was investigated at the low background area. The radium and thorium contents in collected soil samples ranged from 23 to 58 and 33 to 67 Bq kg(-1), respectively. As a result of correlation analyses between the measured values, the highest correlation coefficient (R GT 0.95) was found for thorium ill the soil and the thoron gas concentration