Pietra Leccese and Other Natural Stones in Puglia Region: A New Category of Building Materials for Radiation Protection?

Giuseppe La Verde,Giovanni Paternoster,Adelaide Raulo,Vittoria D’Avino,Mariagabriella Pugliese,Vincenzo Roca,Marco La Commara

doi:10.3390/ijerph182111213

Abstract

In this paper, an in-depth and systematic study of the radiological characterization of three types of Puglia region natural limestones (Pietra Leccese, Pietra Mazzara and Carparo) was carried out. The investigation was performed by XRF spectroscopy for a chemical analysis, and gamma spectroscopy of the specific activity concentration of natural radionuclides 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K. Although the limestone does not fall within the category included by Italian Legislative Decree 101/2020, the gamma index was calculated using the results of the gamma spectroscopy measurements. For Pietra Mazzara and Carparo stones, the gamma index was found to be less than the reference value; conversely Pietra Leccese was found to be higher. To obtain a more complete evaluation of the external exposure, radium equivalent activity and external radiation hazard were calculated for all analyzed stones. The results suggest the need to broadly consider the radiological risk for these stones, and for limestone more generally, when used as a building material.

Highlights

Background radiation of natural origin provides the greatest contribution to the external dose of the world population [1,2]
It is interesting to evaluate the concentration of radiation emitters in building materials (BM) of natural origin used in dwellings, since people spend most of their life inside [1,5]
In 1999, the European Commission dealt with the issue of BM radiation protection for the first time in Radiation Protection 112 (RP112) [6]

Summary

Introduction

Background radiation of natural origin provides the greatest contribution to the external dose of the world population [1,2]. Prolonged exposure to low doses of radiation can have a negative impact on human health [3,4] For this reason, it is interesting to evaluate the concentration of radiation emitters in building materials (BM) of natural origin used in dwellings, since people spend most of their life inside [1,5]. This guidance introduced a screening tool for the identification of BM potential radiological interest: the I gamma index (Iγ ) The importance of this aspect is confirmed by the fact that RP112 itself will constitute the reference document for the Directive 59/2013 EURATOM [7] that requires the precharacterization of construction materials (Annex XIII, Directive 59/2013 EURATOM) to limit human exposure and health effects, providing a reference level for effective dose and the radionuclides to be measured (Art. 75 and Annex VIII, Directive 59/2013 EURATOM)

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Methods

Conclusion