Radioactivity level in water around a cement factory in north central Nigeria

Abstract

In recent times, there has been consistent demand for drinkable water to meet the growing population of Obajana environs, where cement factory is situated. The mean gross alpha and beta activities in drinkable water around the communities of the cement factory, following a continuous exposure of workers and habitants was determined using a low background Gas-less counting system with solid state silicon detector for alpha and beta detection. The average activities for gross alpha and beta water ranged between 0.002871±0.00957 to 0.05335±0.0253 Bq/l and 0.2937±0.0588 to 39.96±11.3000 Bq/l, respectively. The alpha and beta geometric mean of the whole samples were found to be 0.0156±0.01487 Bq/l and 10.9±13.8373 Bq/l, respectively. The correlation coefficient (R), was found to be R = 0.8181, which shows there is a good relationship between the measured gross Alpha and Beta (activity). The average annual committed effective dose for water intake was between 0.149 mSv to 20.100 mSv, the recommended reference level for ingested dose for drinkable water was however exceeded in most locations, thus making the water in most locations not quite safe for consumption.

Keywords: Water, Cement Factory, Effective dose, Gross Alpha and Gross Beta