Investigation of Heavy Metals and Radionuclide’s Impact on Environment Due to The Waste Products of Different Iron Processing Industries in Chittagong, Bangladesh

摘要

The waste products, such as induction furnace slag, ladle furnace slag, air pollution control dust, and ramming mass collected from major iron processing industries in Chittagong, Bangladesh were analyzed for heavy metals and naturally radioactive elements. The concentrations of heavy metals Fe, Cr, Mn, Co, Cd, Ni, Pb, Cu and Zn were obtained from atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) analysis with flame atomizer and the radioactivities due to 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were determined using high purity germanium (HPGe) detector of well shielded gamma-ray counting system. From the mean specific activities of the above three natural radionuclides in the investigated samples, the radium equivalent activity (Raeq) and the external hazard index (Hex) were calculated. The study showed the prospect of contamination of environmental materials (viz., soil, water, air, plant) due to many of these investigated elements by using the collected waste products in landfill. The chemical process of ion exchange indicates that the elevated heavy metals in soil can play a role to increase the natural radioactivity of the soil. The obtained Raeq as well as Hex indicated the insignificant radiation hazard due to the activities of primordial radionuclides found in the investigated samples.