Ecological impacts of Assuit fertiliser factory in Upper Egypt: environmental implications and spatial distribution of natural radionuclides

ABSTRACT

In the present work, radioactivity level in 15 collected soil samples from the area around fertiliser factory in Upper Egypt has been measured using gamma ray Spectrometry due to radionuclides occurred naturally namely ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K to study the concentrations of these nuclides in this soil and determine the effect of Assuit fertiliser factory exhaust on radiological contents of surrounding Soil Samples in Assuit Province, Egypt. Activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K for soil samples were measured by scintillation detector NaI (Tl), has recorded average values 49.45 ± 5.04, 59.113 ± 2.96 and 137.85 ± 6.89 Bq/kg, respectively. On the other hand the average value of radiological hazards affected on farmers and populations were 150.32 Bq/kg, 64.3 nG/h, 0.257, 0.544, 1.006, 0.246, 0.315 and 0.0788 mSv/y for radium equivalent activity, absorbed gamma dose, external and internal hazard indices, gamma index, indoor and outdoor effective dose, respectively. The absorbed dose, gamma index and the annual gonadal dose equivalent the radiological hazards were found higher than permissible level.

KEYWORDS:

• Natural radioactivity level
• soil
• radiation hazards
• hazards parameters

Acknowledgments

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University Saudi Arabia for funding this work through Research Groups Project under grant number (R.G.P1- 71/1440).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).