Statistical Assessment of Radiation Exposure Risks of Farmers’ in Odo Oba, Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

The toxicity risks of being over exposed to ionizing radiation in the environments are of great concern to environmental and health scientists. The distribution of radioactivity concentrations of thorium, uranium and potassium were studied in randomly selected soil samples from ten (10) farm locations in Odo Oba, southwestern Nigeria in order to determine the radiological risks of farmers' exposure to radionuclides. The mean estimation of thorium and potassium are greater than the global average by factors of 1,5 and 2,7, while that of uranium fall below the global average. The estimation of radioactivity ratios showed a depletion of uranium and enrichment of thorium in the study area. Further analysis on the radioelements (that is, thorium, uranium and potassium) showed that 83% of the estimated radiological risks are above the global average. The multivariate analyses involving Pearson's correlation, Factor Analysis, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis were also used to explain the correlations among the data sets. It was affi rmed from the multivariate analysis that the radiological hazards occur as a result of contributions from the three naturally occurring radionuclides. The values obtained in this study revealed that the sampled locations are contaminated zones for farmers.

Natural radionuclides and radiological risk assessment of granite mining field in Asa, North-central Nigeria

“…The levels of 238 U, 232 Th , their respective progenies and the non-series 40 K have been studied in different building materials (both raw and finished products) from different parts of the country [[6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22]], but none has been carried out in Kwara State despite the increasing level of granite mining and usage in this part of the country. Also, data from University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) shows that 74 different cancers of 2246 (891 male and 1355 female) cancer patients within the age of 1–105 were recorded at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) cancer registry between the period of 2007 and 2016 [23].…”

Radiogenic heat production in the Coastal Plain Sands of Ipokia, Dahomey Basin, Nigeria

“…The Basement Complex and Sedimentary rocks are the major rocks that are believed to have covered Nigeria almost in equal proportions. The rocks of Basement Complex are considered to be PreCambrian in age [[7], [8], [9], [10]], while the sediments varied from Upper Cretaceous to Recent in age [6,[11], [12], [13]]. The Basement Complex rocks are composed of igneous and undifferentiated metamorphic rocks, as well as their weathering products (which are popularly known as overburden).…”

“…Generally, granites are enriched in 238 U and 232 Th [28]. The ratio of 232 Th to 238 U could be high in some fractured or fault zones in Basement Complex terrain [10,29,30], while it could be low in some terrain where uranium has not undergone depletion due to lack of fluid infiltration [31], as revealed in the case of [20].

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Radioactive waste: A review

“…Environmental researchers have been concerned about the overexposure from ionizing radiation in agricultural practice for a long time. Adagunodo et al (2019) explored the distribution of radioactive thorium, potassium, and uranium in soil samples selected from 10 farms located in Odo Oba, Nigeria, to measure the exposure risks of farmers to radioactive elements. The authors found that the studied sites contained much higher potassium and thorium concentration than the global average, while uranium concentration is lower than the global one.…”