Natural radioactivity level of clay, ceramic, and stone cooking dishes in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Standards and guidelines are needed in the manufacture of household cooking dishes from clay, ceramic, and stone in Saudi Arabia. The radioactivity levels due to the presence of 40 K, 232 Th, and 226 Ra in these materials were determined using gamma spectrometry equipped with high purity germanium (HPGe) detector. The activity concentrations of 226 Ra ranged from 5.75 Bq kg −1 (Yemen stone sample) to 192.35 Bq kg −1 (China ceramic sample), those of 232 Th ranged from 6.17 Bq kg −1 (Yemen stone sample) to 192.41 Bq kg −1 (China ceramic sample), and those of 40 K ranged from 43.92 Bq kg −1 (clay sample manufactured in Bahrah, Saudi Arabia) to 656.96 Bq kg −1 (ceramic sample from Romania). Radiological indices were measured for all samples to ascertain the potential radiation health hazards. The average concentrations for 226 Ra and 232 Th and the absorbed dose rate (D R) in clay and ceramic dishes exceeded the permissible global limits, with the exception of clay samples from Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The 226 Ra and 232 Th concentrations in all cooking dishes manufactured from stone were within safety limits. However, most of the average values obtained for the activity concentration of 40 K exceeded the recommended limit. The radium equivalent (Ra eq), annual gonadal dose equivalent (AEDE), external hazard index (H ex) , and gamma activity index (I γ) were found to be below the internationally accepted safe limit, except in a ceramic sample imported from China. The sample also had an annual effective dose (AEDE) that slightly above unity. The concentrations of a total of 33 chemical elements were estimated by using an ARL QUANT'X energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. In most samples, the elements' concentrations exceeded the reference level values. In conclusion, care must be taken when using cooking dishes manufactured from clay, ceramic, and stone.

An Overview of the Measurements of Primordial Radionuclide Concentrations in Soil and Radon Concentrations in Water Samples

“…The present investigation provides evidence that prior studies have employed conventional material methods to ascertain the concentration of natural radionuclides in household dinnerware [30][31][32]. The widely employed technique is referred to as high-purity germanium (HPGe) (Fig.…”

Investigation of radon and its progeny in ceramic cooking dishes

“…So, the goal of this work is to determine the concentration of radon and radioactive dose in the low quality, high quality, and handmade ceramic cooking dishes using in kitchen. Previous research has studied the natural radioactivity level of ceramic cooking dishes in Saudi Arabia (13) without considering the handmade ceramic cooking dishes. Many studies of radon (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23) have been investigated.…”