Natural radioactivity measurement of bricks used in the building materials of Egypt

Abstract

Percentage and radionuclides content in the brick material used in construction depends on the origin and the geological condition got from it. They makes manufacture and preparation of bricks used as building materials in Egypt of clay and rocks extracted from deposited sediments of Nile River. Aim of the study was to determine the radiation activity resulting from a different bricks kind, which manufactured from raw materials from the Nile River clay, used in the construction process in Egypt. In the present work, we have selected 20 samples of three types of bricks, clay brick (CB), making facade brick (MFB) and firebrick (FB), it has selected from different regions and plant in Egypt. It measured the activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in many brick under investigation using gamma ray spectroscopy system. Results showed that, the radium equivalent concentration (Raeq) calculated and compared well with the world reported values. As shown in the results, the mean values of radioactivity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K for CB bricks, which represent the highest in many bricks in the present study with values (39, 38 and 199 Bq/kg), respectively.