Measurement of the natural radioactivity content of earth pigments and evaluation of radiological health risks

Abstract

The natural radioactivity content in twenty samples of four different typologies of earth pigments (Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, and Burnt Umber) was investigated through High Purity Germanium (HPGe) gamma spectrometry, with the aim of evaluating the background levels of natural radioactivity in the analyzed samples, and of assessing the radiological health risks due to the external exposure to the enquired earth pigments, by calculating the absorbed dose rate and, starting from it, the annual effective dose equivalent. Finally, the obtained results gave a promising contribution in view of the development of a database on the natural radioactivity content in earth pigments.