Distribution of Natural Radionuclide and Radiation Hazards of Building Materials Used in Assiut, Egypt

Abstract

The concentration of the naturally occurring radionuclides 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K have been measured in Clay (C), gypsum (G), limestone (L), sand (S), brick (B), soil (So), cement (Ce), which are used as building materials in Assiut, Egypt, using gamma spectrometry employing a 3×3 inch scintillation NaI (Tl) detector. The radium equivalent activity (Raeq), indoor gamma absorbed dose rate (D), annual effective dose (An), (AUI), alpha index (Iα), gamma index (Iγ), external radiation hazard index (Hex), internal radiation hazard index (Hin), representative level index (RLI), excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) and annual gonadal dose equivalent (AGDE) associated with the natural radionuclides are calculated to assess the radiation hazard of the natural radioactivity in the building materials. Basic statistics (skewness and Kurtosis) and frequency distributions for all radionuclides were used to describe the statistical characteristics of the radionuclide activities.