Assessment of Radiation Dose and Excessive Life Time Cancer Risk from the Exposed Sandstones of Siwalik Rocks System in the Tamman Area of Pakistan

Authors

  • A. A. Qureshi Radiation Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Chak Shahzad, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • S. Manzoor Radiation Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Chak Shahzad, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • I. A. K. Jadoon Department of Earth Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, Pakistan
  • A. Waheed Radiation Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Chak Shahzad, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • A. N. Rana Geoscience Laboratory, Chak Shahzad, Park Road, Islamabad, 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Physics, Surrey University (2007) unpublished.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).

Downloads

Published

08-07-2015

How to Cite

[1]
A. A. Qureshi, S. Manzoor, I. A. K. Jadoon, A. Waheed, and A. N. Rana, “Assessment of Radiation Dose and Excessive Life Time Cancer Risk from the Exposed Sandstones of Siwalik Rocks System in the Tamman Area of Pakistan”, The Nucleus, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 98–106, Jul. 2015.

Issue

Section

Articles