Radiological assessment in beach sediment of coastline, Ghana

The natural and artificial radioactivity in beach sediment sampled from the coastline of Ghana were analyzed using High Purity Germanium gamma ray detector. The overall average activity concentrations of (226)Ra, (232)Th, (40)K and (137)Cs were estimated to be 43 ± 6, 22 ± 1, 393 ± 74 and 8.4 ± 0.5 Bqkg(−1), respectively. Apart from (226)Ra the mean activity concentrations of the measured radionuclides were below the world averages of 32, 45, 412 and 18.2 Bqkg(−1) respectively. High (137)Cs mean concentration of 109.8 Bqkg(−1) was observed for one of the locations, which might be due to the occurrence of a nuclear incidence or other factors. The evaluated radiological parameters also had values below world averages, except for some coastal areas which recorded Annual Gonadal Dose Equivalent (AGDE) values higher than the reference level of 300 μSvy(−1). There was no significant risk associated with the radionuclide activities evaluated along the coast of Ghana. The correlation between the radionuclides and the radiological parameters were analyzed with the Pearson correlation matrix, cluster and PCA analysis, and they all showed similar outcomes. Spatial distribution maps were also created using ArcGIS software for a pictorial view of the distribution of radionuclides along the study area.