Transfer Factors from Soil to Plant of Natural Radionuclides at Abu-Ghraib City, Iraq Using Gamma Ray Spectroscopy

The radioactivity of environmental samples from nuclear reactor sites must be analyzed before the public is given free access to the plants grown in these soils. Plant and corresponding soil samples were collected from a sample site around the Savar research reactor near Dhaka (Bangladesh) and the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides 226Ra (238U-chain), 228Ra (232Th-chain) and non-chained 40K were measured using gamma ray spectrometry. Soils of Savar contained more radioactive 40K than 226Ra and 228Ra. The influence of certain soil properties on the activity concentrations and transfer factors (TF) of natural radionuclides were investigated by correlating the observed data with those of soil properties. The activity concentrations of 40K were much higher than those of 226Ra and 228Ra in plants due to higher uptake from soils. The transfer factors for 226Ra, 228Ra and 40K were found to range from 0.04 to 0.10, 0.12 to 0.32, and 0.24 to 0.72, respectively. The soil to plant transfer factors for 40K was found to be much higher in plants, which might be due to this element being vital in plants. This study showed that activity concentrations of these radionuclides in plants and their plant transfer factors seem to depend on the activity concentrations of the same radionuclides in soil.

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Transfer from Soil to Grass and Statistical Analysis of Natural Occurring Radionuclides in Soil from Phosphate Mining and Processing Sites in Maritime Region of Togo.

10.21203/rs.3.rs-160904/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Eyakifama Hazou ◽

Benjamin Zorko ◽

Milohum Mikesokpo Dzagli ◽

Essolakina Manakrihèa Haliba ◽

Cebastien Joel Guembou Shouop ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Statistical Analysis ◽

Gamma Ray ◽

Natural Radionuclides ◽

Gamma Ray Spectrometry ◽

Transfer Factors ◽

Phosphate Mining ◽

Mining Site ◽

Average Value ◽

Activity Concentrations ◽

Average Activity

Abstract Natural radionuclides activity concentrations of 226Ra, 228Ra, and 40K in soil and grass samples, statistical analysis of these radionuclides and transfer factors (TFs) from soil to the grass were carried out from phosphate mining and processing sites in southern areas of Togo using gamma-ray spectrometry-based High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. The average activity concentrations of 226Ra, 228Ra, and 40K were found within the range usually measured worldwide. Statistical analysis was done by investigating the skewness, the kurtosis, and the density distribution of radionuclides in the study areas. Both skewness and kurtosis displayed that the activity concentrations of soil and grass samples in the dischargement waste site (Kpémé) and mining site (Hahotoé) exhibited slightly positively skewed, negatively skewed, leptokurtic, and platykurtic distributions. The TFs for 226Ra, 228Ra, and 40K from dischargement waste soil to grass were evaluated. The average transfer factors of 226Ra, 228Ra, and 40K in the phosphate processing area were found to be 0.16, 0.32, and 8.42, respectively. 226Ra and 228Ra TFs values were found to within the limit of worldwide measure values while that of 40K was to be larger than the values measured in other countries. The average TF value of 8.42 for 40K was 8 times higher than the average value of unity, showing its large intake by vegetables. The high TFs for 40K could be explained by the extensive application of phosphate fertilizers to soils when growing vegetables.

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Soil-to-maize Transfer Factor of Natural Radionuclides in a Tropical Ecosystem of Nigeria

Nigeria Journal of Pure and Applied Physics ◽

10.4314/njpap.v9i1.2 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 6-10

Author(s):

N.E. Adesiji ◽

J.A. Ademola

Keyword(s):

Transfer Factor ◽

Gamma Ray ◽

Natural Radionuclides ◽

Geometric Mean ◽

Virgin Soil ◽

Tropical Ecosystem ◽

Transfer Factors ◽

Group A ◽

Group B ◽

Soil Groups

Soil-to-plant transfer factor (TF) is a parameter utilized in predicting the accumulation of radionuclides in the plant system. Virgin soil from an uncultivated area and tailings from an abandoned tin mining site were used to formulate three soil groups. Group A (virgin soil only), group B (tailings only) and group C (equal mixture by mass of the virgin soil and tailings). Pot experiments were performed using the soil groups to determine the transfer factors of 40K, 238U and 232Th in maize (Zea mays L.) plants for the tropical ecosystem of Nigeria. The activity concentrations of 40K, 238U and 232Th in the soil groups and the maize plant compartments (seed, stem, leaf and root) were determined using NaI(Tl) gamma-detector. The geometric mean (GM) of the TF values for 40K, 238U and 232Th respectively ranged from 0.02 to 0.27, below detectable limit (BDL) to 0.008 and 0.01 to 0.09 in the in the seeds; 0.04 to 1.74, BDL to BDL and 0.01 to 0.29 in the stems; 0.03 to 0.93, BDL to 0.33 and 0.02 to 0.08 in the leaves and 0.03 to 1.29, 0.05 to 0.38 and 0.08 to 0.41 in the roots.. Potassium-40 had the highest TF values and exhibited the plant accumulation strategy for all the plant compartments. The stem samples had the highest TF for 40K and BDL values for 238U for all the soil groups. Significance differences were observed only in the accumulation of 40K and 232Th across the soil group. Keywords: Radioactivity, potassium, mining, Gamma-ray detectors, calibration

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NATURAL RADIONUCLIDES IN SOIL AND ROOT VEGETABLES IN MALAYSIA: TRANSFER FACTORS AND DOSE ESTIMATES

Radiation Protection Dosimetry ◽

10.1093/rpd/ncz256 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 188 (1) ◽

pp. 47-55

Author(s):

Abdul Majeed Muidh Al Mutairi ◽

Norlaili A Kabir

Keyword(s):

Significant Variation ◽

Gamma Ray ◽

Natural Radionuclides ◽

Soil Samples ◽

Dose Assessment ◽

Transfer Factors ◽

Activity Concentrations ◽

Effective Doses ◽

Average Activity ◽

Root Vegetables

Abstract Tapioca and sweet potato are the fourth and fifth most consumed crops in Malaysia. The activity concentrations of natural radionuclides in these vegetables were assessed from two regions in Malaysia (Kedah and Penang) along with soil samples using gamma ray spectroscopy. The transfer factors of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K from soil to vegetables were calculated, and a dose assessment was performed. The activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in soil samples did not show a significant variation with the regions investigated, and the average values obtained, in Bq/kg, (±SD) were as follows: 80 ± 41, 56 ± 12, 516 ± 119, respectively. The respective average activity concentrations in vegetables were as follows, in Bq/kg: (±SD) 2.0 ± 0.5, 6 ± 2, 153 ± 49. The corresponding transfer factors were calculated to be 0.03, 0.11 and 0.31 for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K, respectively. The average annual effective doses due to the exposure from soil and ingestion of vegetables were found to lie within the worldwide ranges.

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NATURAL RADIATION ABSORBED DOSE RATE AND RADIATION TRANSFER FACTOR FROM SOIL TO VEGETABLE IN SOME SELECTED AREAS OF CHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH

Journal of Southwest Jiaotong University ◽

10.35741/issn.0258-2724.56.4.56 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 56 (4) ◽

pp. 659-672

Author(s):

Sk. A. K. Arafin ◽

Md. Sapan Bhuiyan ◽

Jannatul Ferdous ◽

M. Ashraful Hoque ◽

A. K. M. Rezaur Rahman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dose Rate ◽

Natural Radioactivity ◽

Transfer Factor ◽

Gamma Ray ◽

Natural Radionuclides ◽

Absorbed Dose ◽

Gamma Ray Spectrometry ◽

Absorbed Dose Rate ◽

Anthropogenic Radionuclides ◽

Transfer Factors

The study aimed to investigate natural radioactivity levels and Transfer Factors of natural radionuclides from soil to some plants in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The concentrations of naturally occurring and anthropogenic radionuclides in soil and plants were measured in this work to determine the absorbed dose rate and the transfer factors of radionuclides from soil to plant. Plants (Spinach and Vegetables) and corresponding soil samples were collected from three different locations in Chittagong (Nasirabad, Sitakunda, and Halda Agrotechnology), and the concentrations of activity of natural radionuclides were measured using gamma-ray spectrometry. The average absorbed dose rate in the soil of Nasirabad, Sitakunda, and Halda Agrotechnology are 49.84 nGyh-1, 37.4 nGyh-1, and 45.6 nGyh-1. The average transfer factor from soil to plants, recorded for 238U, 232Th, and 40K of these study areas, are 0.461, 0.400, and 3.10, respectively. The ratio of soil to plant transfer factor for the present study compared with some previous work. The Transfer Factor of 40K gives some high value but does not exceed the limit of the different published values. Because there are no existing databases for the natural radioactivity in soil and plants from Chittagong, Bangladesh, our results are establishing a database for the Chittagong, Bangladesh soil and plants. This data may be used as a database for further investigation for the betterment of public health.

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