Radiological assessment of petroleum products in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State, South-South Nigeria

Abstract

Monitoring the background levels from petroleum products is essential because of the everyday use and the increasing number of fuel, diesel, kerosene, and gas stations in Delta State, Nigeria. The study aims to determine the background ionizing radiation (BIR) in milli-Roentgen per hour (mR/h), absorbed dose rate (ADR) (nGy/h), and annual effective dose rate (AED) (mSv/year) in selected fuel, diesel, kerosene, and cooking gas-dispensing stations in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State. The study was carried out using a calibrated Geiger Muller detector (Radiation Alert Inspector) in count per minute mode for point measurements and a geographical positioning system for determining the longitude and latitude of each point where measurements were taken from. The mean outdoor BIR, ADR, and AED were 0.011 ± 0.002 mR/h, 91.6 ± 19.5 nGy/h, and 0.11 ± 0.02 mSv/year, respectively, with 84% of the BIR below the world average. The mean BIR was below the world average while the ADR and AED were above it. Kerosene stations had the highest BIR. The outdoor measurements from this study were comparable to similar articles with slight variation. The study shows that the attendant and customers were safe in the areas where this study was conducted.