Measurement of natural radioactivity in common building materials used in Tiruvannamalai, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract

The radioactivity of some building materials used in Tiruvannamali City has been measured using a NaI (Tl) detector based gamma ray spectrometer. The distribution of natural occurring radionuclides ( 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K) in the building materials was studied. The radium equivalent activity (Ra eq ), the activity utilization index (I), external hazard index (H ex ) and internal radiation hazard index (H in ) associated with the natural radionuclide are calculated to assess the radiation hazard of the natural radioactivity in the building materials. The present work shows that the natural radioactivity levels in the building construction materials used in Tiruvannmalai City is well below the acceptable limits. From the analysis, it was found that these materials may be safely used as construction materials and do not pose significant radiation hazards.