期刊名称：Research Journal of Environmental and Earth Sciences
印刷版ISSN：2041-0484
电子版ISSN：2041-0492
出版年度：2011
卷号：3
期号：3
页码：261-268
出版社：Maxwell Science Publications
摘要：The naturally occurring radioactive materials associate with building materials from twelve (12) towns along coastal part of Central Region of Ghana have been studied. The activity concentration of 238U, 232Th and 40K ranged from 27.90±1.06 to 97.89±6.34 Bq/kg, 15.47±0.97 to 70.97±5.83 Bq/kg and 89.34±5.20 to 943.44±34 Bq/kg, respectively. The 238U recorded the highest value of 97.89±6.34 Bq/kg in granite from Ampenyi whilst pebbles from Winneba recorded the lowest activity concentration. The 232Th activity concentration level ranged from 15.47±0.97 to 70.97±5.83 Bq/kg with clay soil from Kormantse recording the highest whiles pebbles from Apam had the lowest average activity concentration. The average activity concentration of 40K ranged from 89.34±5.20 to 943.44±34 Bq/kg , with the highest activity concentration level occurring in Ampenyi and lowest level of the activity concentration also occurring in beach sand from Apam. The activities are compared with available data from other publications and with the world average value for soils. The radium equivalent activity Raeq, the external hazard index (Hex) (0.17 to 0.48), Internal hazard index (Hin) (0.25 to 0.72), the absorbed dose rate D in air (36.90 to 131.29 nGy/h) and the annual effective dose ( ET ) (181.02 to 644.00 :Sv/yr) were evaluated to assess the radiation hazard for people living in dwellings made of these building materials. The studies indicated that the main contributions to gamma-radiation in building materials are 40K, 238U and 232Th. The results obtained were found to be within the allowable limit of 1mSv per year for public exposure control recommended by the International Commission Radiological Protection (ICRP) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
