ABSTRACT
Fifty-one surface soil samples were collected from two selected residential areas in Baghdad city (Al-Adhamiya and Al-Sha’ab areas) and analyzed using gamma-ray spectroscopy system. The activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs for soil samples collected from Al-Adhamiya area ranged from 9.19 to 22.7 Bq/kg, 5.91 to 17.8 Bq/kg, 236.36 to 507.56 Bq/kg and below minimum detectable activity to 3.07 Bq/kg, respectively. For soil samples collected from Al-Sha’ab area, the activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs ranged from 9.21 to 24.51 Bq/kg, 6.41 to 16.81 Bq/kg, 246.32 to 402.78 Bq/kg and below minimum detectable activity to 4.8 Bq/kg, respectively. The RESRAD-Onsite code version 7.2 has been used to evaluate radiation dose and risk for the occupants of the areas of the study. The maximum total dose rates of 0.204 and 0.245 mSv/y were estimated for Al-Adhamiya and Al-Sha’ab areas, respectively. The total peak dose rates are about 5 times lower than the public radiation dose limit of 1 mSv/y. Based on the findings of the current study, it can be concluded that occupants in the investigated areas would not get any unacceptable radiological hazards due to radionuclides in soil.
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