Assessment of Activity Concentration and Health Effects of Radiation Exposure from Dumpsite Soil Samples Within Kaduna Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

The concentration of naturally occurring radionuclides 238U, 232Th and 40K in soil samples from eighteen selected dumpsites within Kaduna metropolis  were analyzed using NaI(Tl) γ– spectrometry in order to determine their activities and assess the potential radiological health hazards associated with the  soils. In comparison with the recommended limit, activity concentrations of the radionuclide 40K are higher than the worldwide average value in four  of the sites while 238U is higher than the world average value in six of the sites. Whereas for 232Th, values were below the recommended average  value in all except two sites. To assess the radiological hazards of the soil samples, twelve radiological and health hazard indices were calculated. The  results indicated that in twelve out of the eighteen sites analyzed, some of the health hazard parameters were higher than the recommended levels.  Hence, there is a fingering potential radiological hazard directly associated with the soils from these twelve locations. In the remaining six sites, the  hazard parameters were below the recommended average level, and poses no health risk to people living around the sites. A comparison between the  values obtained from dumpsites and that obtained from the control site shows that the effect of NORM on dumpsite is considerably less significant to  NORM from farming locations as a result of extensive use of fertilizers and chemicals during the farming seasons.