Abstract
Determination of activity concentrations in twenty five (25) soil samples collected from various points in bauxite ore deposit in Menoua Division in Western of Cameroon was done using gamma spectrometry based Broad Energy Germanium (BEGe6530) detector. The average terrestrial radionuclides of 40K, 226Ra, 232Th, 235U and 238U were measured as 671 ± 272, 125 ± 58, 157 ± 67, 6 ± 3 and 99 ± 69 Bq kg−1, respectively. The observed activity concentrations of radionuclides were compared with other published values in the world. The outdoor absorbed dose rate in air varied from 96.1 to 321.2 nGy h−1 with an average of 188.2 ± 59.4 nGy h−1. The external annual effective dose rate and external hazard index were estimated as 0.23 ± 0.07 mSv year−1 for outdoor, 0.92 ± 0.29 mSv year−1 for indoor and 1.13 for the external hazard index, respectively. These radiological safe parameters were relatively higher than the recommended safe limits of UNSCEAR. Consequently, using of soil as building material might lead to an increase the external exposure to natural radioactivity and future applications research need to be conducted to have a global view of radioactivity level in the area before any undergoing bauxite ore exploitation.
Highlights
Natural radioactive materials under certain conditions in the environmental matrix can reach hazardous radiological levels (Selvasekarapandian et al 1999)
Activity concentrations of 40K, 226Ra and 232Th ranged from 136 ± 2 to 1269 ± 128 Bq kg−1 with a mean of 671 ± 272 Bq kg−1, 53 ± 2 to 288 ± 22 Bq kg−1 with an average of 125 ± 58 Bq kg−1, 59 ± 2 to 272 ± 11 Bq kg−1 with a an average of 157 ± 67 Bq kg−1, respectively
In the present study, activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th, 40K, 235U and 238U in the surface soil samples from bauxite ore deposit site in Dschang was determined by using high resolution gamma spectrometry based Broad Energy Germanium (BEGe6350) detector
Summary
Natural radioactive materials under certain conditions in the environmental matrix can reach hazardous radiological levels (Selvasekarapandian et al 1999). It is formed due to weathering of rocks in the earth’s crust and deposition of eroded materials into depressions (Tufail et al 2013). Exploration of these natural mineral (case of uranium, bauxite etc....) raises concerns related to waste management and environmental contamination by NORM (IAEA 1996). Site remediation after bauxite mining and milling proves to be a major issue of radiological protection with a risk essentially associated with the daughter products of uranium and thorium (Saïdou et al 2011).
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