ELEMENTAL AND RADIOLOGICAL HAZARD ASSESSMENT OF SEDIMENTS USED IN BUILDING BLOCKS ALONG THE BARIKIN LADI STREAM IN PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA
ELEMENTAL AND RADIOLOGICAL HAZARD ASSESSMENT OF SEDIMENTS USED IN BUILDING BLOCKS ALONG THE BARIKIN LADI STREAM IN PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA
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Date
2015-07
Authors
GEORGE, AMEH AGADA
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Abstract
This study assessed the elemental and radiological hazards of sediments derived from Barikin Ladi stream and used in building blocks of residential homes. Sediment samples were collected from various locations along the stream and analysed using two methods: the NaI(Ti) gamma ray spectrometry technique was used to obtain activity concentration of 40K, 226Ra and 232Th and the neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) technique for the elemental composition of same samples. The gamma ray spectrometry results obtained showed that the mean average activity concentrations for 40K with the range of 102.18±3.27 - 424.73±2.63 Bq/kg is 301.26±7.06 Bq/kg; 226Ra with the range of 13.44±0.12 - 368.53±11.61 Bq/kg is 109.84±5.83 Bq/kg and 232Th with the range of 4.57±1.28 – 707.54±11.40 Bq/kg is 262±1.49 Bq/kg. The mean absorbed gamma dose rate and mean effective dose rate were found to be 234.50 nGy/h and 0.298 mSv/y respectively. NAA results showed that the mean values for Aluminium with the range of 11760 ±281- 76340 ± 611 mg/kg is 46102.5±367 mg/kg; Iron with the range of 2520±118 – 36510±365 mg/kg is 18096±270.38 mg/kg, Titanium with the range of 830±129 – 24220±630 mg/kg is 6036±291.5 mg/kg and Potassium with the range of 737±132 – 14640±410 mg/kg is 6014.63 ±200 mg/kg. Generally, the mean annual effective dose rate obtained is lower than the 1 msv/yr limit set by ICRP for public radiation exposure control.
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A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A MASTERS DEGREE IN RADIATION BIO-PHYSICS. DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS, FACULTY OF SCIENCE, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY ZARIA, NIGERIA JULY, 2015
Keywords
RADIOLOGICAL HAZARD, ASSESSMENT OF SEDIMENTS, BUILDING BLOCKS, BARIKIN LADI STREAM IN PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA