ASSESSMENT OF NATURALLY OCCURRING RADIONUCLIDES IN MALAYSIA'S BUILDING MATERIALS

Radiological impact of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in fodders from Penang, Malaysia

The plant acts as an important route for the transfer of radionuclides from the soil to animals, leading to the transfer of radiation to human food products such as beef and milk. Therefore, the level of radioactivity in fodder plays a crucial role in deciding whether cattle may be allowed to graze in a certain area. In this study, the activities of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were measured via gamma-ray spectrometry on different fodder samples, including napier leaves, rice straw, corn stalks, guinea grass, mixed pasture, palm oil leaves and palm kernel collected from Penang, Malaysia. Theoretical calculations were also conducted to estimate the levels of these radionuclides in caw's products (beef and milk), as well as their potential radiological impact on local consumers. On average, the annual effective dose due to ingestion of radionuclides in milk was 11.39 μSv y-1, whereas in beef it was 5.63 μSv y-1. These values are significantly lower than the worldwide average of 290 μSv y-1. Research confirmed that farmers' usage of the aforementioned feeds did not cause any radiation-related health risks.

RADIOACTIVITY CONTENT OF BUILDING MATERIALS USED IN KUTAHYA PROVINCE, TURKEY

Radioactivity concentrations of primordial radionuclides Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 for 31 samples of seven different types of construction materials used in Kütahya Province, Turkey, were analyzed using NaI(Tl) gamma spectroscopy. Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 activities of all samples ranged between <2.0 and 81.3 ± 1.5, <1.0 and 24.8 ± 0.5 and <7.8 and 819.1 ± 5.5 Bq kg -1, respectively. Radium equivalent activity and Gamma index of sampled building materials were calculated and presented. All results were found to be below the safety limits.