Determination of natural and artificial radioactivity levels and radiation hazard indices for soil samples in Kırşehir

Abstract

The aim of this study is to create a radiological map of K & imath;r & scedil;ehir province in Turkey by analyzing the radioactivity levels of soil samples and environmental radiation measurements. Ra-226, Th-232, K-40 and Cs-137 radionuclides were analysed in soil samples collected from 47 locations using gamma spectrometry with an HPGe detector. According to the results obtained, gamma radioactivity concentration ranges and mean values for Ra-226, Th-232, K-40 and Cs-137 were determined as 133 +/- 15-1515 +/- 128 Bq/kg (599.40 Bq/kg), 0.3 +/- 0.09-21.1 +/- 1.7 Bq/kg (4.61 Bq/kg), 8.7 +/- 0.9-128.5 +/- 8.5 Bq/kg (29.66 Bq/kg) and 11.6 +/- 8.6-273.8 +/- 19.9 Bq/kg (48.80 Bq/kg) respectively. Average radioactivity levels for K-40 and Th-232 are above the world average. The mean radium equivalent activity (Ra-eq), gamma dose rate (D), annual effective dose equivalent (AEDE), external hazard index (H- ex ), and the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) were calculated as 145.45 Bq/kg, 122.13 nGy/h, 0.15 mSv/h, 0.39 and 0.29 x 10(-3) respectively.