Title: Assessment of annual effective dose and excess lifetime cancer risk due to alpha emitters in some grain samples in Kerbala Governorate, Iraq

Authors: Zahraa Saad Hamzah; Abdalsattar Kareem Hashim; Ali Abid Abojassim

Addresses: Department of Physics, College of Science, Kerbala University, Kerbala, Iraq ' Department of Physics, College of Science, Kerbala University, Kerbala, Iraq ' Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Kufa, Al-Najf, Iraq

Abstract: This study aims to measure radon concentration in some types of grain samples of Kerbala Governorate. The measurements of radon concentration were carried out using a CR-39 detector. Also, radium-226 and uranium-238 were calculated depending on radon concentrations in the samples of the present study. Furthermore, annual effective dose (AED) and excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) due to alpha emitters (²²²Rn, ²²⁶Ra, and ²³⁸U) in all samples were determined. The results show that radon concentrations in air space were varied from 0.12 to 40.56 Bq/m³, while the results of radium and uranium were varied from 0.14 to 46.25 mBq/kg and from 0.002 to 0.706 Bq/kg, respectively. Also, the average value of the total of AED and ELCR was 0.402±0.102 µSv/y and (1.54±0.39)×10⁻⁶, respectively. The values of (²²²Rn, ²²⁶Ra, and ²³⁸U, as well as AED in all types of grain samples of Kerbala governorate had normal levels according to many organisations reported such as WHO, UNSERE, ICRP, etc. The results of ELCR were very low in all samples in current study. Therefore, it can be concluded that the samples in the present study do not pose any kind of health hazards or radiological effects for the inhabitant of the study area.

Keywords: alpha emitters; radon concentrations; cancer risk; Kerbala governorate.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNEST.2022.126065

International Journal of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology, 2022 Vol.15 No.3/4, pp.271 - 282

Received: 03 Nov 2021
Received in revised form: 11 Jan 2022
Accepted: 11 Feb 2022
Published online: 10 Oct 2022 *

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