Natural radioactivity and radiation hazards in some building materials used in Isparta, Turkey

Sick building syndrome: are we doing enough?

“…In this regards, Zamanian and Hardiman (2005) stated that human beings are constantly exposed to low levels of ionizing radiation from natural sources such as sunlight, radioactive materials on the earth's surface, radioactive gases leaking from the earth, cosmic rays from outer space entering the earth's atmosphere through the ionosphere and natural radioactivity.The natural radioactivity has been around since the beginning of universe due to the found radioelement in the earth's crust. The radionuclides of 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K can be almost found in all types of rocks, granite, sand, cement and gypsum, from which majority of building materials are produced (Mavi and Akkurt 2010). As such, materials obtained from the earth's crust contain traces of 238 U and 232 Th (Bavarnegin et al 2013).…”

“…EU-BSS is expected to be transposed to national law by EU Member States before February 2018, aiming to establish a basic standard adoptable by the EU members to protect the public against the exposure of ionizing radiation (Croymans et al 2018;Schroeyers et al 2018). Studies have widely addressed the issue associated with the emission of natural radioactivity from building materials (Bavarnegin et al 2013;Chen, Rahman, and Atiya 2010;Lu, Yang, and Ren 2012;Mavi and Akkurt 2010;Ravisankar et al 2012;Saad, Al-Awami, and Hussein 2014). In one attempt, Mavi and Akkurt (2010) measured the radioactivity of commonly-used building materials, namely brick, cement, limestone, ytong, limra, gypsum, ceramic tile and gravel existing in Ispartacity of Turkey.…”

“…Studies have widely addressed the issue associated with the emission of natural radioactivity from building materials (Bavarnegin et al 2013;Chen, Rahman, and Atiya 2010;Lu, Yang, and Ren 2012;Mavi and Akkurt 2010;Ravisankar et al 2012;Saad, Al-Awami, and Hussein 2014). In one attempt, Mavi and Akkurt (2010) measured the radioactivity of commonly-used building materials, namely brick, cement, limestone, ytong, limra, gypsum, ceramic tile and gravel existing in Ispartacity of Turkey. They conclusively stated that the levels of natural radioactivity in these materials were below the acceptable limits.…”

Assessments of Natural Radioactivity Concentration and Radiological Hazard Indices in Surface Soils from the Gözlek Thermal SPA (Amasya-Turkey)

“…1) and natural radioactivity for 40 K, 226 Ra and 232 Th radionuclides has been measured. The samples were prepared for the measurement [10,11]. Each sample was then placed into a cylindrical container and sealed.…”

“…For this purpose, several studies have been carried out to measure the natural activity concentrations of 40 K, 226 Ra and 232 Th in different materials [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Natural radioactivity levels depend on the geological and geographical characteristics of the region.…”