Radon concentrations in henna(Lawsonia inermis) leaf samples collected from Basrah, Iraq

Abstract

Henna leaves are a pri or ity ma te rial for hair dyes and body tat toos and have been used for this pur pose for de cades. In Iraq, henna is used widely but it re quires sub stan tial con trols. Iraq is con sid ered an en vi ron men tally pol luted area as a re sult of the wars it has ex pe ri enced, hence, this study has been con ducted to cal cu late the level of 222 Rn con tam i na tion in henna leaves using a CR-39 nu clear track de tec tor. The leaves were col lected from the prov ince of Basrah, which is lo cated in south ern Iraq and is fa mous for cul ti va tion of this plant. The ra don concen tra tions were found to range from 12.140 to 16.255 Bqm-3 in Al-Faw, and from 7.613 to 11.111 Bqm-3 in Abu Al Khasib. Ra don ac tiv ity ranged from 6.09×10-4 to 8.16×10-4 Bq in Al-Faw, whereas, in Abu Al Khasib it ranged from 3.82×10-4 to 5.58×10-4 Bq. Ra don specific ac tiv ity ranged from 1.22×10-4 to 1.63×10-4 Bqg-1 in Al-Faw, and from 7.64×10-5 to 1.12×10-4 Bqg-1 in Abu Al Khasib. The ra don ex ha la tion rate ranged from 4.05×10-4 to 5.43×10-4 with an av er age of 4.69×10-4 Bqm-2 d-1 in Al-Faw, and from 2.54×10-4 to 3.71×10-4 with an av er age of 3.22×10-4 Bqm-2 d-1 in Abu Al Khasib. Af ter ob tain ing the re sults, one can con clude that the henna plant col lected from these ar eas is safe for hu man use and is free from high rates of 222 Rn.

Assessment of uranium-235 distribution in soil samples from Anbar province, Western Iraq

“…The primary objective of environmental radiation assessments is to determine the quantity and type of radiation that individuals are exposed to from their surroundings to assess the potential risks. This involves estimating the levels of radionuclides present in the environment and their impact on human biological systems [8][9][10]. Furthermore, a correlation must be established between the concentration of radionuclides in the environment and the amount of radiation exposure that individuals receive from them, to determine whether a particular area is safe for human habitation in terms of radiation [11,12].…”