ANALYSIS OF RADIOLOGICAL IMPACT PARAMETERS IN SOIL FROM SUGARCANE FARMLAND CULTIVATED WITH WASTE WATER IN JIBIYA, KATSINA STATE-NIGERIA

Abstract

This work was conducted to investigate the radiological impact parameters in soil samples collected from a sugarcane farm land cultivated with waste water in Jibiya, katsina state- Nigeria using γ-ray spectrometry technique with sodium iodide (NaI(Tl)) low level background detector. In the results, the average specific activities of 40K, 226Ra, and 232Th were found to be (69.83±1.24)

B????????g−1, (18.36±0.06) B????????g−1 and (29.34±0.84) B????????g−1 respectively; and are all below the world average values of 420 B????????g−1, 33 B????????g−1 and 45 B????????g−1. Similarly, the health effects of  natural  radioactivity  in  the  soil  samples  caused  by  these  primordial radionuclides  were computed using the absorbed dose (D), Annual  effective dose equivalent (AEDE), Radium equivalent activity (????????????q), External hazard index (Hext.) and Gamma representative level index (l_y); and were all within the world recommended average values. Although this study shows that radioactivity level is normal in the study areas, periodic evaluation of the radioactivity level is recommended.