Risk Assessment of Exposure to Natural Radiation in Soil Using RESRAD-ONSITE and RESRAD-BIOTA in the Cobalt-Nickel Bearing Areas of Lomié in Eastern Cameroon
Abstract
:Simple Summary
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Sample Collection and Measurements
2.3. RESRAD Simulation and Output Parameters
2.3.1. RESRAD-BIOTA
2.3.2. Equations and Models for Terrestrial Systems
- Soil BCGs for Terrestrial Plants
- is the nuclide concentration i in the soil;
- Bivtp,soil,i is the concentration factor of the fresh mass of the terrestrial plant in the soil for nuclide i;
- Biv,tp,i is the concentration factor of the fresh mass of the land plant with respect to the soil;
- CFtp is the correction factor for area or time;
- DLtp (0.01 Gy d−1) is the dose limit recommended for terrestrial plants;
- DCFext,soil,i is the dose conversion;
- DCFint, is the dose conversion factor.
- 2.
- Soil BCGs for Terrestrial Animals
- DLta (0.01 Gy d−1) is the dose limit recommended for terrestrial animals;
- is the concentration of nuclide i in the soil;
- Biv,ta,i is the concentration factor of the fresh mass of land animals in relation to the soil.
- 3.
- Sum Ratio Factor (SRF)
2.3.3. RESRAD-ONSITE
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Activity Concentrations of Natural Primordial Radionuclides (226Ra, 232Th, and 40K)
3.2. The Biota Concentration Guide (BCG), Sum Ratio Factor (SRF), Internal Dose, External Dose, and Total Dose of Different Radionuclides in Four Organism Types by Soil (Bq kg−1) Media
3.3. Environmental Risk
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Dose Rate Limit (Gy d−1) | |
---|---|
Terrestrial Plants | 0.01 |
Terrestrial Animals | 0.001 |
Parameters | Site-Specific Data |
---|---|
Area of contaminated zone | 15,000 m2 |
Thickness of contaminated zone | 0.1 m |
Cover depth | 1 m |
Density of contaminated zone | 1.4 cm3 g−1 |
Wind speed | 1.67 m s−1 |
Precipitation rate | 0.7784 m yr−1 |
Well pump intake | 15 m |
Indoor time factor | 0.6 |
Outdoor time factor | 0.4 |
With the NaI (Tl) Detector | With the HPGe Detector | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Activity Concentration (Bq·kg−1) | Radionuclides | |||||
226Ra | 232Th | 40K | 226Ra | 232Th | 40K | |
Minimum | 34 ± 18 | 58 ± 5 | 45 ± 1 | 19 ± 1 | 45 ± 1 | 158 ± 5 |
Maximum | 53 ± 28 | 126 ± 17 | 339 ± 8 | 63 ± 1 | 50 ± 1 | 463 ± 7 |
Mean | 45 ± 23 | 87 ± 11 | 135 ± 3 | 35 ± 1 | 42 ± 1 | 215 ± 5 |
World average | 33 | 45 | 420 | |||
Batouri average | 46 | 32 | 76 | |||
Betaré-Oya average | 32 | 37 | 197 |
Risk Parameter | Radionuclides | Terrestrial Animal | Terrestrial Plant |
---|---|---|---|
226Ra | 2.44 × 10−04 | 8.93 × 10−05 | |
232Th | 2.04 × 10−03 | 1.44 × 10−04 | |
40K | 8.44 × 10−02 | 9.07 × 10−03 | |
Biota Concentration Guide (BCG) (Bq kg−1) | 226Ra | 2.13 × 10+05 | 5.82 × 10+05 |
232Th | 6.16 × 10+04 | 8.75 × 10+05 | |
40K | 5.49 × 10+03 | 5.10 × 10+04 | |
External dose (Gy d−1) | 226Ra | 1.34 × 10−08 | 6.55 × 10−07 |
232Th | 1.65 × 10−10 | 2.21 × 10−08 | |
40K | 6.18 × 10−07 | 4.32 × 10−06 | |
Internal dose (Gy d−1) | 226Ra | 2.31 × 10−07 | 2.38 × 10−07 |
232Th | 2.04 × 10−06 | 1.42 × 10−06 | |
40K | 8.38 × 10−05 | 8.64 × 10−05 | |
Total dose (Gy d−1) | 226Ra | 2.44 × 10−07 | 8.93 × 10−07 |
232Th | 2.04 × 10−06 | 1.44 × 10−06 | |
40K | 8.44 × 10−05 | 9.07 × 10−05 |
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Dieu Souffit, G.; Saïdou; Bobbo Modibo, O.; Lepoire, D.; Tokonami, S. Risk Assessment of Exposure to Natural Radiation in Soil Using RESRAD-ONSITE and RESRAD-BIOTA in the Cobalt-Nickel Bearing Areas of Lomié in Eastern Cameroon. Radiation 2022, 2, 177-192. https://doi.org/10.3390/radiation2020013
Dieu Souffit G, Saïdou, Bobbo Modibo O, Lepoire D, Tokonami S. Risk Assessment of Exposure to Natural Radiation in Soil Using RESRAD-ONSITE and RESRAD-BIOTA in the Cobalt-Nickel Bearing Areas of Lomié in Eastern Cameroon. Radiation. 2022; 2(2):177-192. https://doi.org/10.3390/radiation2020013
Chicago/Turabian StyleDieu Souffit, Gondji, Saïdou, Oumar Bobbo Modibo, David Lepoire, and Shinji Tokonami. 2022. "Risk Assessment of Exposure to Natural Radiation in Soil Using RESRAD-ONSITE and RESRAD-BIOTA in the Cobalt-Nickel Bearing Areas of Lomié in Eastern Cameroon" Radiation 2, no. 2: 177-192. https://doi.org/10.3390/radiation2020013