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Measurement of radionuclides in surface soil and beach sand samples from Rayong Province (Thailand) and the evaluation of excess lifetime cancer risk

Prasong Kessaratikoon^a,*, Ruthairat Boonkrongcheep^a, Sitthipong Polthum^b

 
ABSTRACT:     Specific activities of natural (⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra, and ²³²Th) and anthropogenic (¹³⁷Cs) radionuclides in 230 surface soil and beach sand samples collected from the densely populated areas of industrial activities in Rayong Province, Thailand, were analyzed. Experimental results were obtained using a high-purity germanium detector and gamma spectrometric analysis system. The frequency distributions of the four radionuclides were investigated and calculated as suitable medium values of all distributions. According to asymmetrical distribution, medium values of the specific activities of all required radionuclides should be median values. Furthermore, the median values of the three natural radionuclides were also used to evaluate absorbed dose rates in the air (D), radium equivalent (Ra_eqex), annual effective dose rate (AED_out), and excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) in the studied areas. The results were compared with data obtained from the annual report of Thailand’s Office of Atoms for Peace, the global radioactivity measurements, and the evaluations and recommended values proposed by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). It was found that most of the results were significantly lower than the recommended values of UNSCEAR except for the median value of specific activity of ²²⁶Ra. Moreover, the radioactive contour map for the investigated areas was constructed.

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* Corresponding author, E-mail: prasong_mi@hotmail.com

Received 11 Nov 2020, Accepted 18 Jun 2021