Gross alpha and gross beta activity concentrations and annual effective dose due to intake of water from the cement producing area of Sokoto, North-western Nigeria.

Abstract

Mineral radioactivity is due to alpha, beta and gamma radiation from the unstable isotope in the composition. Gross alpha and beta activity concentration in ground water from cement producing area of Sokoto State has been determined using a non-gas proportional counter with model, protean instrument corporation (PIC) MPC 2000 DP single channel analyzer of Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. The mean activity concentration of gross alpha and beta were 0.05 and 0.14 BqL^-1 respectively. These values were compared with the reported data from other studies and they were well within the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended limits of 0.1 and 1.0 BqL^-1 for activity concentration of gross alpha and beta respectively. The mean annual effective dose due to activity concentration of both gross alpha and beta from intake of drinking water for children and adults were calculated to be 0.225 and 0.06 mSvy^-1. This is in order to estimate the exposure risk arising from intake of water. This value is below the recommended reference dose level (RDL) of the effective dose of 0.1 mSvy^-1. This study has shown that ground water from the communities around the cement producing area of Sokoto has slight contaminated radiologically, which might pose radiation related health risk to the public in the future.