Abstract
The radioactivity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in 24 samples of natural and manufactured building materials commonly used in Bangladesh were measured using HPGe gamma ray spectrometer. The results in the present study were compared with the world average and also with the reported data available in literature. The radium equivalent activity, the absorbed dose rate, annual effective dose, external and internal hazard indices, gamma index, alpha index, annual gonadal dose equivalent and excess lifetime cancer risk were also evaluated to assess the potential radiation hazards associated with these building materials. All samples under investigation were found to be within the recommended safety limit and do not pose any significant radiation hazards. This study can be used as a reference for more extensive studies of the same subject in future.
Highlights
Measurement of natural radioactivity concentrations in building materials has fundamental importance in evaluating significant gamma dose indoors, due to their natural radionuclide contents
The radium equivalent activity, the absorbed dose rate, annual effective dose, external and internal hazard indices, gamma index, alpha index, annual gonadal dose equivalent and excess lifetime cancer risk were evaluated to assess the potential radiation hazards associated with these building materials
Various hazard parameters, such as radium equivalent activity (Raeq), the absorbed dose rate (D), annual effective dose (Deff), external (Hex) and internal (Hin) hazard indices, gamma index (Iγ), alpha index (Iα), annual gonadal dose equivalent (AGDE) and excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) play a significant role to assess the potential radiation hazards posed by these building materials
Summary
Measurement of natural radioactivity concentrations in building materials has fundamental importance in evaluating significant gamma dose indoors, due to their natural radionuclide contents. All building materials are mostly composed of rock and soil containing natural radionuclides such as 238U and 232Th decay series and 40K. These natural radionuclides and their decay products, called terrestrial background radiation (such as 214Pb, 214Bi, 212Pb, 208Tl, 228Ac, etc.), may cause both external exposure due to their direct gamma radiation and internal. Various hazard parameters, such as radium equivalent activity (Raeq), the absorbed dose rate (D), annual effective dose (Deff), external (Hex) and internal (Hin) hazard indices, gamma index (Iγ), alpha index (Iα), annual gonadal dose equivalent (AGDE) and excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) play a significant role to assess the potential radiation hazards posed by these building materials. The world-wide average concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in the earth crust are about 40 Bq∙kg−1, 40 Bq∙kg−1 and 400 Bq∙kg−1, respectively [1]
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