Sewage Water Irrigation and Radioecology Affect in Soil and Plants

Abstract

The present study was aims to focus on the accumulation of the concentrations of the nuclides of heavy and rear metals in the soil and plants due to irrigation process by sewage water. In this study about 100 test samples from soil and plants irrigated by Nile and sewage water as well as Nile and sewage water were collected from different areas in El-Sharkia Governorate, in Egypt. The study concluded that the mean values of the activity concentrations of the heavy and rare earth elements in soil and plants which irrigated by sewage water are relatively high compared with the same values in soil and plants which irrigated by Nile water. also, the same results were found in both sewage and Nile water. in most test samples the values of activity concentrations of 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K were found below the average world values (32, 45 and 412 Bq/kg, respectively). Also, different radiation hazards parameters were calculated depending on the activity concentrations of the primordial radionuclides. The values of different radiation hazards parameters were found below the international permissible values in most test samples. The results in terms of the concentrations of natural radionuclides showed that the irrigation process by sewage water is relatively safe under special control rules and/or treated the sewage water before irrigation.