Radioactivity in Building Materials and Assessment of Risk of Human Exposure in the Tiruchirappalli District of Tamil Nadu, India

• Published in: Journal of hazardous, toxic and radioactive waste toxic and radioactive waste, 2016-07, Vol.20 (3)
• Main Authors: Sankaran Pillai, G, Shahul Hameed, P, Mazhar Nazeeb Khan, S. M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Technical Papers
• ISSN: 2153-5493; 2153-5515
• DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)HZ.2153-5515.0000320

AbstractThis study aims to generate a database on the radioactivity content of the building materials mined and used in Tiruchirappalli District employing a high-resolution NaI(Tl) detector. Ninety-two different types of building materials were collected from the local construction suppliers. The results indicated that Ra226, Th232, and K40 concentrations in the building materials of the study area were found to vary from below detection limit (BDL) to 367.2  Bq/kg, BDL to 190.3  Bq/kg, and BDL to 1,227  Bq/kg, respectively, with arithmetic mean values of 45.5  Bq/kg, 73.5  Bq/kg, and 302.6  Bq/kg. Other radiation hazard indices, like radium-equivalent activity, absorbed dose rate, external and internal hazard indices, indoor and outdoor effective doses, and radioactivity level index, were also calculated. Building materials such as phosphogypsum, granite tiles, and fly ash show a higher level of radium-equivalent activity (>370  Bq/kg) and Iγ activity (>1). Hence, the use of phosphogypsum, granite tiles, and fly ash samples needs to be avoided, and all the other building materials mined and used from this district posed no radiological risk to human populations.