Natural Radioactivity Levels and Radiological Hazards in Soil Samples Around Abu Karqas Sugar Factory

摘要

Background and Objective: Soil contributes significantly to the internal and external exposure to environmental radioactivity by gamma rays and beta radiation that increase the risk to human health, therefore, the present study dealt with measuring radiation levels and radionuclides distribution (²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K) for soil around non-nuclear industries by studying the effect of residues of Abu Karqas Sugar Factory on agricultural soil. Materials and Methods: Twenty five soil samples (N = 25) were collected from different locations around Abu Karqas Sugar Factory, Upper Egypt. Activity measurements have been performed by gamma-ray spectrometer, employing a high-resolution scintillation detector NaI (Tl) crystal 3×3 inch. Also multi-variate statistical analysis such as variance, skewness, kurtosis, Pearson correlation and cluster analysis was performed utilizing Statistics Software Bundle SPSS version 19.0 for Windows. In addition, the radiological hazards were calculated for the investigated samples. Results: The study indicated that, the average values of activity ranged from 8±0.7 to 33±2, 8±0.3 to 19±1 and from 111±4 to 209±12 Bq kg?1 for ²²⁶R, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K, respectively. Conclusion: According to the obtained results, all samples would not present significant radiological hazards.