Radioactivity of sand, groundwater and wild plants in northeast Sinai, Egypt

Abstract

The radioactivity levels are poorly studied in non-coastal arid regions. For this reason, 38 locations covering an area of about 350 km 2 in northeast Sinai, Egypt, were investigated by γ -ray spectroscopy. Moderately significant correlations among 238 U, 234 Th, and 226 Ra isotopes and low significant correlations between the concentrations of 238 U-series and 232 Th in sand were obtained. No evidence of correlation was found between the concentrations of radioisotopes and pH, grain size, total organic matter content, bicarbonate or calcium carbonate concentrations of the sand samples. The mean values of soil-to-plant transfer factor were 0.15, 0.18, 1.52 and 0.74 for 226 Ra, 232 Th, 40 K, and 137 Cs, respectively. The range of concentrations of 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K in water samples collected from five wells were <0. 4-0.16, <0.4-0.13, and <0.15-1.62 Bq l −1 , respectively. The mean absorbed dose rate in outdoor air at a height of 1 m above the ground surface for the sand samples was 19.4 nGy h −1 . The Ra eq activities of the sands are lower than the recommended maximum value of 370 Bq kg −1 criterion limit for building materials.

Multivariate Statistical Analysis of High Background Radiation Area on the Hadhramout Coast

“…These results are in general agreement with those obtained in North Sinai, Egypt, for dune and beach sand where the average pH values were 8.4 and 8.0 for dune and beach sand, respectively, and the TOM content was <1 % for most samples [7,26]. In addition, relatively similar results for sand were obtained in northeast Sinai where the mean pH was 8.8 and the TOM content was <5 % for most samples [27] and in Suez Gulf where the mean pH was 8.8 and the TOM contents were <9.1 % [22]. Figure 2 shows examples of the measured gamma-ray spectra of sand sample from location S13 and background obtained with NaI(Tl) detector.…”

“…The 238 U/ 232 Th ratio may vary from the original value if the soil was subjected to physical or chemical interactions that may affect one series more or less than the other one. This observed value is not far from the mean values for this ratio in North Sinai [7] of 0.92 ± 0.23 and 1.06 ± 0.18 for beach and dune sand, respectively, and in northeast Sinai [27] of 1.07 ± 0.41 for dune sand. On the other hand, sand samples contaminated from hot springs have higher values of this ratio [22].…”

Evaluation of some pollutant levels in environmental samples collected from the area of the new campus of Taif University

“…The mean and range of concentrations of 226 Ra,228 Ra, and40 K in water samples collected from the four wells were 0.13 ± 0.03 (0.08-0.16), 0.05 ± 0.03 (0.02-0.09) and 1.3 ± 0.5 (0.6-1.8) Bq l −1 , respectively. The present results of 40 K are nearly the same as those obtained for the north Sinai, Egypt, with a mean value of 0.98 ± 1.91 (0.4-1.8) Bq l −1[35,36]. The present results are in good agreement with the measured ranges of 226 Ra and 232 Th ( 228 Ra) measured in 10 wells in the Makkah region, Saudi Arabia, of <0.015-0.137 and <0.020-0.102 Bq l −1 , respectively[37].On the other hand, the concentrations of both radioisotopes are much lower than the guideline values of the World Health Organization (1.0 Bq l −1 for 226 Ra and 1.0 Bq l −1 for 232 Th) [38] and the Canadian Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Committee on Drinking Water (0.6 Bq l −1 for 226 Ra and 0.1 Bq l −1 for 232 Th) [39].…”

Environmental assessment of gamma-radiation levels in stream sediments around Sharm El-Sheikh, South Sinai, Egypt

“…The carbonate materials of the sands were considered the main contributors to 137 Cs retention (VandenBygaart and Protz, 2001) because of the positive relationship between percentage of CaCO 3 and the 137 Cs (r ¼ 0.66; p < 0.05). No significant correlation (r ¼ 0.54) was obtained in the present analysis of 137 Cs and CaCO 3 and in a study in Northeast Sinai (Ramadan et al, 2011a).…”

“…The concentrations of NORM were five to seven times those in dune sand samples collected from North (Seddeek et al, 2005;Seddeek, 2006) and Northeast Sinai (Ramadan et al, 2011a) and the Table 1 The energies of g-ray lines used to calculate the activity concentration of radioisotopes.…”