Assessment of Radiation Dose and Excessive Life Time Cancer Risk from the Exposed Sandstones of Siwalik Rocks System in the Tamman Area of Pakistan
Abstract
Siwalik System of rocks is exposed all along the Himalayan foothills from Assam to Baluchistan for about 4000 km. The Siwalik System of rocks is composed of sandstones and shales. Intermittent uranium mineralization is known in Siwalik’s sandstones in India and Pakistan and is productive uranium horizon in Pakistan. Specific activities of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were measured in the Siwalik’s sandstones exposed in Tamman area using high purity (HPGe) ï§- ray spectrometer. The average activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K was found to be 15.93, 25.58 and 450.97 Bqkg-1 respectively. The radiation indices were also assessed which are well below the world’s averages. The outdoor and indoor excessive life time cancer risk was calculated as 0.18x10-3 and 1.35 x10-3 . The Siwalik’s sandstones have no excessive life time cancer risk to the local population and sand derived from the Siwalik’s sandstone is a safe building material.References
M. Doendara, A dissertation submitted to the Department of
Physics, Surrey University (2007) unpublished.
A. Abbady, “Assessment of the natural radioactivity and its
radiological hazards in some Egyptian rock phosphatesâ€, Indian J.
Pure Ap. Phy. vol. 43, p. 489-493, 2005.
http://physics.isu.edu/radinf/natural.htm. (accessed June 2015)
J. G. Ackers, J. F. D. Boer, P. D. Jong and R. A. Wolschrijn,
“Radioactivity and radon exhalation rates of building materials in
the Netherlandâ€, The Sci. Total Environ., vol. 45, p. 151-156,
J. Beretka and P. J. Matthew, “Natural radioactivity of Australian
building materials, industrial wastes and by-productsâ€, Health
Phys., vol. 48, p. 87–95, 1985.
R. Mustonen, “Natural radioactivity and radon exhalation rate from
Finish building materialsâ€, Health Phys., vol. 46, p. 1195-1203,
E. Suess, “Are great ocean depths permanent?†Nat. Sci vol. 2,
pp. 180-187, 1893.
E. H. Pascoe, The Early History of the Indus, Brahmaputra, and
Ganges, Quarterly Journal of The Geological Society, vol. 75,
No. 1-4, pp. 138-157, 1919.
S. K. Acharyya, R. Kumar and S. K. Gosh (eds.), Himalayan
Geology 15, pp. 71-95, 1994.
C. P. Swarnkar, D. Singh, S. Kumar, F. A. Khan and J. Twari,
“Investigation on the seasonal pattern of Strongyle infection in
sheep and interaction genotypes of Haemonchus Contortus in
refugia and benzimidazole resistance in Rajasthan, Proceedings of
th National Congress of Indian Association for the advancement
of veterinary parasitology, p. 139-140, 2006.
F. J. Dahlkamp, Uranium deposits of the world 2400 4 ISBN 978-
-540-78559-0, (2012).
N. Akhtar M. Tufail M. Ashraf and M. Iqbal, “Measurement of
environmental radioactivity for estimation of radiation exposure
from saline soil of Lahore, Pakistanâ€, Radiat. Meas., vol. 39,
p. 11-14, 2005.
Y. X Yang, X. M. Wu, Z. Y. Jiang, W. X. Wang, J. G. Lu. J. Lin,
L. M. Wang and Y. F. Hsia, “Radioactivity concentrations in soils
of the Xiazhuang granite area, Chinaâ€, App. Radiat. Isot., vol. 63,
Issue 2, p. 255-259, 2005.
R. R. Benke and K. J. Kearfott, “Soil sample moisture content as a
function of time during oven drying for Gamma-Ray spectroscopic
measurements,†Nucl. Inst. Meth in Physics Research Section A:
vol. 422, No. 1-3, p. 817-819, 1999.
S. C. Lee, C. K. Kein, D. M. Lee and H. D. Kang, â€Natural
radionuclides content and radon exhalation rates in building
material used in South Koreaâ€, Radiat. Prot. Dosim., vol. 94, No 3,
p. 269–274, 2001.
ASTM, “Recommended practice for investigation and sampling
soil and rocks for engineering purpose, American Society for
Testing and Materialsâ€, Annual Book of ASTM Standards (04.08),
Report 420 (Philadelphia, PA: ASTM) p. 109–113. (1986).
M. Tufail, Nasim Akhtar, M. Waqas, â€Measurement of terrestrial
radiation for assessment of gamma dose from cultivated and barren
saline soils of Faisalabad in Pakistanâ€, Radiat. Meas., vol. 41,
p. 443–451, 2006.
M. Tufail, N. Akhtar, J. Sabia and T. Hamid, “Natural radioactivity
hazards of building bricks fabricated from Saline Soil of two
districts of Pakistanâ€, J. Radiol. Prot., vol. 27, p. 481-492, 2007.
R. Hewamanna, C. S. Sumithrarachchi, P. Mahawatte, H. L. C.
Nanayakkara and H. C. Ratnayake, “Natural radioactivity and
gamma dose from Sri Lankan clay bricks used in building
construction†App. Radiat. Isot, vol. 54, p. 365-359, 2001.
A. Ahad Matiullah, S. U. Rehman and M. Faheem, “Measurement
of radioactivity in the soil of Bahawalpur division, Pakistanâ€,
Radiat. Prot. Dosim., vol. 112, p. 443-447, 2004.
M. Asghar, M. Tufail, J. Sabiha, A. Abid and M. Waqas,
“Radiological implications of granite of northern Pakistanâ€,
J. Radiol. Prot., vol. 28, p. 387-399, 2008.
IAEA Technical Report 309, “Construction and use of calibration
facilities for radiometric field equipment, Subject-Uranium
Geology, Exploration and Mining, 1989.
UNSCEAR, Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation, United
Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation
(UNSCEAR), Report to the General Assembly, with Scientific
Annexes, p. 116, 2000.
P. Hayambu, M. B. Zaman, N. C. H. Lubaba, S. S. Munsanje and
D Muleya, “Natural radioactivity in Zambian building materials
collected from Lusakaâ€, J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chemi., vol. 99 3,
p. 229-238, 1995.
R. Krieger, “Radioactivity of Construction Materials,†Betonwerk
Fertigteil Technik, vol. 47, p. 468-473, 1981.
European Commission Radiological protection principles
concerning the natural radioactivity of building materials.
Radiation Protection Report RP-112 European Commission,
Luxembourg, p.8, 1999.
S. Turhan, “Assessment of the natural radioactivity and
radiological hazards in Turkish cement and its raw materials†J.
Environ. Radioactivity, vol. 99, p. 404-414, 2008.
D.C. Kocher and A.L. Sjoreen, “Dose rate conversion factors for
external exposure to photon emitters in soil†Health Phys., vol. 48,
p. 193-205, 1985.
P. Jacob, H. G. Paretzke, H. Rosenbaum and M. Zankl,
“Preliminary studies on 226Ra and 232Th, and 40Kâ€, Radiat. Pro.
Dosim., vol. 14, p. 229-310, 1986.
R. Mehra and M. Singh,†Measurement of Radioactivity of
U, 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in Soil of Different Geological Origins
in Northern Indiaâ€, J. Environ. Prot., vol. 2, p. 960-966, 2011.
M. Gupta, A. K. Mahur, R. Varshney, R. G. Sonkawade and K. D.
Verma, “Measurement of natural radioactivity and radon
exhalation rate in flyash samples from a thermal power plant and
estimation of radiation dosesâ€, Radiat. Meas., vol.50, p. 160-165,
ICRP Publication 65: Protection against Radon-222 at Home and
at Work. Annals of the ICRP 23/2. Pergamon, 1994.
ICRP. ICRP Publication 60, Ann. ICRP 21, 1-3, 1991.
National Cancer Institute, USA., “Surveillance, Epidemiology and
End Results (SEER) Program. Program of the National Cancer
Institute on cancer statistics to reduce the burden of cancer among
the U S populationâ€, 2009.
H. Taskin, M. Karavus P. Ay, A. Topuzoglu, S. Hindiroglu and
G, Karahan, “Radionuclide concentrations in soil and lifetime
cancer risk due to the gamma radioactivity in Kirklareli, Turkeyâ€,
J. Environ. Radio., vol. 100, p. 49-53, 2009.
A. A. Qureshi M. Ali, A. Waheed, S. Manzoor, R. U. H. Siddique
and H. A., Khan, “Assessment of radiological hazards of
Lawrencepur Sand, Pakistan using gamma spectrometry†, Radiat.
Prot. Dosime., vol. 157, no. 1, p. 73-84, 2013.
F. Malik, Matiullah, M. Akram, and M. U. Rajput, “Measurement
of natural radioactivity in sand samples collected along the bank of
rivers Indus and Kabul in northern Pakistanâ€, Radiat. Prot. Dosim.,
vol. 356, p. 97-105, 2010.
S. Rehman M. Faheem and Matiullah, “Natural radioactivity in
sand samples collected along the bank of river Indusâ€, J. Radiol.
Prot., vol. 28, p. 443-452, 2008.
M. Gupta, R. P. Chauhan, A. Garg, S. Kumar and
R. G. Sonakawade, “Estimation of radioactivity in some sand and
soil samplesâ€, Indian J. Pure Ap. Phy., vol. 48, p. 482–485, 2010.
J. Singh, H. Singh, S. Singh, B. S. Bajwa and R. G. Sonkawade,
“Comparative study of natural radioactivity levels in soil samples
from the Upper Siwaliks and Punjab, India using gamma-ray
spectrometryâ€, J. Environ. Radio., vol. 100, p. 94-98, 2009.
K, Badhan and R. Mehra, “Primordial radioactivity (
U, 232Th
and40K) measurements for soils of Ludhiana district of Punjab,
Indiaâ€, Radiat. Prot. Dosim., vol. 152 1-3, p. 29-32, 2012.
NEA-OECD, “Exposure to radiation from natural radioactivity in
building materialsâ€, Report by NEA group of experts, 1979.
S. Singh, A. Rani, K. M. Rakesh and K, Mahajan, “226Ra,232Th and
K analysis in soil samples from some areas of Punjab and
Himachal Pradesh, India using gamma ray spectrometryâ€, Radiat.
Mea.,†vol. 39, p. 431-439, 2005.
M. Gupta, R.P. Chauhan, A. Garg, S. Kumar and R. G.
Sonkawade, “Estimation of radioactivity in some sand
and soil samplesâ€, Indian J. Pure Ap. Phy., vol. 48, p. 482–
, 2010.
R. Mehra and M. Singh, “Estimation of radiological risk due to
concentration of 238U,226Ra,232Th and 40K in soils of different
geological origins in northern Indiaâ€, Turk. J. Phy., vol. 36,
p. 289–297, 2012.
M. Rafique, H. Rehman, Matiullah, F. Malik, M. U. Rajput and
S. U. Rahman, “Assessment of radiological hazards due to soil and
building materials used in Mirpure Azad, Kashmir, Pakistanâ€,
Iranian J. Res., vol. 9 2 p.77-87, 2011.
G. M. Malik, M. Asghar M. Tufail, N. Akhter, K. Khan and
S. D. Orfi, “Natural radioactivity in soil along Chashma Barrage,
Pakistan†The Nucleus, vol. 39, no. 1-2, p. 71-72, 2002.
M. Tufail, unpublished Ph. D Thesis (1992).