Measurement of the radon exhalation rate and effective radium concentration in soil samples of southern Sakarya, Turkey

Abstract

In the present study, radon exhalation rates in terms of mass and area, as well as the effective radium concentration in soil samples collected simultaneously from different districts of southern Sakarya have been measured by Sealed Can technique using LR-115 type-II detectors. Mass and areal radon exhalation rates in soil samples vary from 35.76 ± 1.5 to 253.15 ± 3.8 mBqkg−1h−1 with an average value of 112.53 ± 2.7 mBqkg−1h−1 and 0.73 ± 0.2 to 5.18 ± 0.6 Bqm−2h−1 with an average value of 2.30 ± 0.6 Bqm−2h−1, respectively. The effective radium content was found to vary in the range 3.77 ± 0.5 to 26.69 ± 1.3 Bqkg−1 with an average value of 11.86 ± 0.9 Bqkg−1. The area exhalation rate was also used to calculate indoor radon concentration contributed by radon exhalation from soil, and to estimate annual effective dose equivalent. While the indoor radon concentration contributed by radon exhalation from soil varies from 2.93 ± 0.9 to 20.73 ± 2.3 Bqm−3 with an average value of 9.22 ± 1.5 Bqm−3, the estimated effective dose equivalent varies from 0.09 to 0.61 mSvy−1 with an average value of 0.27 mSvy−1.

Measurement of radionuclide contents and 222Rn/220Rn exhalation rate in soil samples from sub-mountainous region of India

“…Saad et al (2013) have reported a radon mass exhalation range of 1.2 to 61 mBq kg −1 h −1 in Libyan soil samples. Tabar et al (2016) have reported the range of 36 to 253 mBq kg −1 h −1 for radon mass exhalation rate in soil samples of southern Sakarya, Turkey. The range of radon mass exhalation was 8 to 234 mBq kg −1 h −1 for the soil samples of Alexandria city, Egypt (El-Zaher 2013).…”

Assessment of radon exhalation rates, effective radium content and radiological exposure dose, of coal and rocks in Tiru Valley Coal Field, India using track etched technique

“…The modified 'can technique' using nuclear track detectors was adopted to estimate radon concentrations, rates of exhalation of radon, amounts of radium content, effective annual doses and lifetime fatality-risks from the coal and rocks [Sharma et al 2003, Singh et al 2009, Barooah et al 2013, As-Subaihi et al 2019, Tabar et al 2016, Tuccimei et al 2006. The detector used in this investigation was LR-115 (II) manufactured by Kodak Pâthé Company, France and has a 12 μm thick nitrocellulose (C 6 H 8 O 7 N 2 ) layer laminated on a strippable 100 μm thick transparent non-etchable polyester sheet.…”

A Preliminary Study to Determine the Radon Exhalation Rates of Soil Samples at Different Depths

“…Radon exhalation rate strongly depends on Ra-226 concentration of materials and its distribution, also depends on several factors such as the geological properties of region of interest, emanation power, porosity of material, soil temperature, soil water saturation, atmospheric pressure [5,6]. The main sources of indoor radon concentration are the building materials and soil, making it necessary to determine the radon exhalation rate of these materials, as it is an important parameter in terms of health [2,[7][8][9][10][11].…”

“…Soil radon exhalation rate data is limited in Turkey: it is only performed for several locations by several authors by using track detectors (CR-39 and LR-115 type II Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors-SSNTD) and by gamma spectroscopy methods as given in the Table 1 [5,[16][17][18]. Tablo 1.…”