Natural radioactive sources are the major contributor to human radiation
exposure. The accumulation of radioactivity in surface soil is of concern since
growing vegetation will take up radionuclides through roots and incorporate them
into variou parts of the plants. Study of the level of radioactivity is soil is also
important because natural exposure represents a reference against which exposure
to man-made sources may be compared. not only for standards-setting purposes.
but also in epidemiological studies. However little information is available on the
distribution of natural radionuclides in Malaysian surface soil
