TY - JOUR ID - 15257 TI - Investigation of Radiological Hazards in the Soil of Mazandaran Province, Iran JO - Iranian Journal of Medical Physics JA - IJMP LA - en SN - AU - Kashian, Sedigheh AU - Saleh Kotahi, Mohsen AU - Fathivand, Ali asghar AU - Lotfalinezhad, Peyman AD - Radiation Applications Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Tehran, Iran AD - Physics Department, Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran Y1 - 2021 PY - 2021 VL - 18 IS - 2 SP - 133 EP - 138 KW - Exposure KW - External Hazard Index KW - Internal Hazard Index KW - gamma spectrometry KW - Radioactivity KW - radium equivalent DO - 10.22038/ijmp.2020.43527.1659 N2 - Introduction: This paper aimed to outline the procedure for determining the activity concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides (i.e., 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K) in surface soil samples collected from Mazandaran province, Iran. Material and Methods: In total, 61 samples were collected between longitude 50˚ 34′ and 54˚ 10′ east and latitude 35˚ 47′ and 36˚ 35′ north from uncultivated locations of Mazandaran province, Iran. The measurements were performed by the gamma spectrometry system using a High Purity Germanium detector. Results: The mean levels of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K were found to be 20 Bqkg-1 (without considering high-level areas), 33 Bqkg-1, and 421 Bqkg-1, respectively. The results were compared with those of different countries across the world. The radiological hazard to the natural radioactivity was assessed by calculating the absorbed dose rate, the radium equivalent activity, the external and internal hazard indices, and the outdoor and indoor annual effective dose rate. The mean radium equivalent without considering three high-level areas was estimated at 100.8 Bqkg-1. Conclusion: Results indicated that no radiological risk may threat the residents of the areas under study, except for regions near the hot spring in Sadat Shahr and Lavich, Iran. Without considering high-level areas, the mean radium equivalent activity was 100.8 Bqkg-1 that was about 73% lower than the permissible maximum. Moreover, internal and external hazard indices were less than the unit. The mean absorbed dose rate, as well as the outdoor and indoor annual effective dose rates were 48.56 nGyh-1, 238.4 µSv y-1, and 292.6 µSv y-1, respectively. UR - https://ijmp.mums.ac.ir/article_15257.html L1 - https://ijmp.mums.ac.ir/article_15257_fd16989cab3423f4da986254df202979.pdf ER -