Assessment of Radioactivity of Some Surface Soils in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State and Health Implications, North Central Nigeria

Authors

  • Dalton T. Ayaakaa Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi, PMB 2373, Benue State, Nigeria.
  • T. Sombo
  • E. U. Utah

Keywords:

soil, background radiation, evaluation, doses and health implication

Abstract

The activity concentrations of some radionuclides in soil samples were collected from10 locations in Gboko local government of Benue State have been determined using the Gamma ray Spectroscopy  (Model No: 3M3/3). The soil activity ranges from 58.88 to 64.49Bq/Kg for 40K, 3.33 to 5.31Bq/Kg for 238U and 4.66 to 8.25Bq/Kg for 232Th respectively for the urban areas. In the rural areas, the activity concentration ranges from 55.42 to 66.26Bq/Kg for 40K, 3.77 to 5.55Bq/Kg for 238U and 4.21 to 10.02Bq/Kg for 232Th respectively. The mean absorbed dose rate in air ranges from 6.78nGy/h in Gboko – East to 9.37nGy/h in Mkar - Hill while the annual effective dose for the same areas varied from 0.01mSv/y in three sites to 0.01mSv/y in Mkar - Hill. The estimated absorbed dose rate in air varied from 6.73nGy/h in BCC to 10.28nGy/h in Gboko – Poly with annual absorbed dose of 0.01mSv/y in BCC to 0.03mSv/y in Ape - Inumbu. The results showed that, the annual effective dose rate is much lower than 0.1mSv/y maximum permissible limit recommended for humans by WHO, (2009). It is also lower than the safe limit of 0.07mSv/y permitted by UNSCEAR,( 2009) for individual members of the public. This reach work indicated that the samples soil may have not been impacted radio logically.

 

Author Biography

Dalton T. Ayaakaa, Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi, PMB 2373, Benue State, Nigeria.

Physics department: Rank: Student

References

• Ajayi O.S. (2013) Environmental gamma radiation indoors at Akure, Southwestern Nigeria.J Environ Radioact, 50:263-266.

• Ajayi, T. R., Torto, N., Tchokossa, P., and Akinlua, A. (2009).Natural Radioactivity and Trace Metals in Crude oils: Implication for Health. Environ Geochem Health, 31, 61-69.

• Chukwuocha, E. O., & Enyinna, P. I. (2010). Radiation Monitoring of Facilities in Some Oil Wells in Bayelsa State and Rivers State, Nigeria. Scientia Africana, 9(1), 107-111

• Currie LA (1968). Limits for qualitative detection and quantitative determination.Anal Chem, 40:586-593.

• Diab, H. M., Nouh, S. A., Hamdy, A., & El-fiki, S. A. (2008).Evaluation of Natural Radioactivity in a Cultivated Area Around a Fertilizer Factory. J Nucl Radiat Phys, 3(1), 53-62PP.

• Mokobia, C. E., Edebiyi, F. M., Akpan, I., Olise, F. S., & Tchokossa, P. (2006). Radioessay of Prominent Nigerian Fossil Fuels Using Gamma and TXRF Spectroscopy. Fuel,85, 1811- 1814PP.

• O. S. Ajayi, (2009) “Measurement of activity concentrations of 40K, 226Ra and 232Th for assessment of radiation hazards from soils of the southwestern region of Nigeria, Radiation and Environmental Biophysics, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 323–332.

• Senthilkumar, B., Dhavamaani, V., Ramkumar, S., & Philominathan, P. (2010). Measurement of Gamma Radiation Levels in Soil Samples from Thanjavur Using Gamma Ray Spectrometry and Estimation of Population Exposure.Journal of Medical Physics, 35(1), 48-53.

• S. J. Sartandel, S. K. Jha, S. V. Bara, R. M. Tripathi, and V. D. Puranik, “Spatial distribution of uranium and thorium in the surface soil around proposed uraniummining site at Lambapur and its vertical profile in the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam,†Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, vol. 100, no. 10, pp.831–834, 2009.

• Tchokossa, P. (2006). Radiological Study of Oil and Gas Producing Areas in Delta State, Nigeria (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria.

• UNSCEAR (1988) United Nations Scientific Committee on Effects of Atomic Radiation. Sources and effects of ionizing radiation. New York: UN.

• UNSCEAR (2000) United Nations Scientific Committee on Effects of Atomic Radiation. Report to the General Assembly, Report Vol I. Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation.

• United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects ofAtomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). (2000). Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation (Report to the General Assembly). New York: United Nations.

Downloads

Published

2016-08-15

How to Cite

Ayaakaa, D. T., Sombo, T., & Utah, E. U. (2016). Assessment of Radioactivity of Some Surface Soils in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State and Health Implications, North Central Nigeria. Asian Journal of Engineering and Technology, 4(4). Retrieved from https://ajouronline.com/index.php/AJET/article/view/3770

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 4 (2016): August 2016

Section

Articles

License

  • Papers must be submitted on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis) and are not currently under consideration by another journal published by any other publisher.
  • It is also the authors responsibility to ensure that the articles emanating from a particular source are submitted with the necessary approval.
  • The authors warrant that the paper is original and that he/she is the author of the paper, except for material that is clearly identified as to its original source, with permission notices from the copyright owners where required.
  • The authors ensure that all the references carefully and they are accurate in the text as well as in the list of references (and vice versa).
  • Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
  • The journal/publisher is not responsible for subsequent uses of the work. It is the author's responsibility to bring an infringement action if so desired by the author.