Activity concentrations of natural radionuclides in the sediments of Ogun River, Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

The concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides in the sediments of the Ogun River in Southwestern Nigeria were measured using NaI(Tl) gamma-ray spectrometry. The measurements were made in an effort to better understand the spatial distribution of natural radioactivity and to form a database of radioactivity levels of the Ogun River. The total average activity concentrations of (40)K, (226)Ra and (232)Th in the sediment samples representing the whole Ogun River from the upper region through the middle to the lower region of the river were 499.476±59.167, 12.649±3.476 and 11.774±5.126, respectively. The range of the activity concentrations of (40)K, (226)Ra and (232)Th for the Ogun River were found to be from 370.969±19.261 (at Olopade) to 608.023±24.658 (at Owere), 5.567±2.359 (at Ekerin) to 20.395±4.516 (at Sokori) and 5.037±2.244 (at Mile 12-Maidan) to 23.096±4.806 (at Sokori). The values obtained were compared with internationally accepted values. No man-made radionuclides were detected at any of the locations.

Human Health Impact of Natural and Artificial Radioactivity Levels in the Sediments and Fish of Bonny Estuary, Niger Delta, Nigeria

“…The range of observed activity concentrations of all radionuclides measured are presented in Table 2. The average values of all the radionuclides measured in this study were higher than those reported for similar environments in the Niger Delta and Nigeria [13,14], as well as typical global averages [23].…”

“…Activity concentrations of 40 K in the Bonny estuary were higher than reported elsewhere in the Niger Delta and Nigeria [13,14], but there was no significant difference between the sample sites (p = 0.59). If anthropogenic inputs are significant in the Bonny estuary, they are widely distributed across the three sites.…”

“…African studies are focused on the countries bordering the Mediterranean and Red Seas [8][9][10][11]. In Nigeria, the measurement of radioactivity in the environment is a more recent effort with most studies focusing on the distribution of natural radioactivity in sediments, soils, surface water and foodstuffs around oil and gas producing areas, mining locations and important inland water bodies [12][13][14][15].…”

Levels and effects of natural radionuclides in sediment banks of Rhumel River (Northeast Algeria)

“…The knowledge of radionuclides distributions in the sediments acts an essential part in monitoring of environmental contamination and assessment of radiological hazard arising from natural sources. For this purpose, in the recent years many studies give an importance to the measurements of the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides and their hazard on human health [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14].…”

Gamma Background Radiations and Measurements with Applications

“…Another research study used the same device and the same properties. Indoor and outdoor absorbed dose rates were measured in the select region of AL-Qizweenia Najaf in Iraq [10]. Many studies in the gamma field of background radiation were conducted in different cities of Iraq [11][12][13].…”