External exposure due to natural radioactivity in some household kits
by Fawzia Mubarak, Z.Y. Morsy, M. Abd. El Wahab
International Journal of Low Radiation (IJLR), Vol. 6, No. 1, 2009

Abstract: Specific activities (Bq/kg and ppm) of naturally occurring radionuclides were measured for about 57 samples from some household kits. The maximum specific activity values were 76.12, 118.37 and 3340.6 Bq/kg for U-238, Th-232 and K-40, respectively. The external exposure rate (μR/h) and dose rate (nG/h) were calculated. The maximum mean annual effective dose due to U-238 from Chinese ceramic dishes was 59.24 μSv/y, while the maximum mean annual effective doses due to Th-232 and K-40 were 126.31 and 63.81 μSv/y, respectively. The maximum total mean annual effective dose was 248.19 μSv/y for Portuguese dishes. The surface area concentration (Bq/m²) was calculated to estimate the annual equivalent dose to all organs and the effective dose due to contaminated ground. To estimate the annual effective dose, a value of 0.7 Sv/Gy was used for the conversion coefficient from the absorbed dose in air to the effective dose received by workers. The mean annual effective dose to workers due to U-238, Th-232 and K-40 is given using two methods: the first one is according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (2003) recommendations and the second one is a Monte Carlo technique for the dose calculations, which ranged from 0.0036 to 0.248 mSv/y for the first method and 0.0039 to 0.214 mSv/y for the second method. The total annual dose from U, Th and K for each organ shows that the lowest dose was received by the oesophagus, while the skin received the highest dose.

Online publication date: Fri, 29-May-2009

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