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External dose assessment from the measured radioactivity in soil samples collected from the Islamabad capital territory, Pakistan

S U Rahman1, M Faheem2, J Anwar1, M Ziafat3, T Nasir4 and Matiullah5

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It is a well known fact that natural radionuclides are the major contributors towards the gamma ray exposure received by the general public. In this context, soil samples were collected from the Islamabad capital territory and activities due to 226Ra, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs were measured using gamma ray spectrometry: activities ranged from 41.5–106.2 Bq kg−1, 4.0–193.8 Bq kg−1, 325.3–657.4 Bq kg−1 and 1.6–9.45 Bq kg−1, respectively. From the measured activities, the external hazard index, internal hazard index, absorbed dose rate and mean annual effective dose were calculated. External and internal hazard indices were calculated as 0.76 and 0.95, respectively. The mean absorbed dose rate was found to be 130.97 nGy h−1. The mean effective dose was estimated as 0.16 mSv y−1, which is less than the maximum permissible dose of 1 mSv y−1.


PACS

87.55.N- Radiation monitoring, control, and safety

89.60.-k Environmental studies

07.85.Nc X-ray and gamma-ray spectrometers

Subjects

Instrumentation and measurement

Environmental and Earth science

Dates

Issue 4 (December 2009)

Received 9 February 2009, accepted for publication 7 July 2009, in final form 23 April 2009

Published 18 November 2009



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