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Natural radioactivity levels in soils, rocks and water at a mining concession of Perseus gold mine and surrounding towns in Central Region of Ghana

Levels of naturally occurring radioactive materials prior to processing of gold ore within and around the new eastern concession area of Perseus Mining (Ghana) Limited were carried out to ascertain the baseline radioactivity levels. The study was based on situ measurements of external gamma dose rat...

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Autores principales: Faanu, A., Adukpo, O. K., Tettey-Larbi, L., Lawluvi, H., Kpeglo, D. O., Darko, E. O., Emi-Reynolds, G., Awudu, R. A., Kansaana, C., Amoah, P. A., Efa, A. O., Ibrahim, A. D., Agyeman, B., Kpodzro, R., Agyeman, L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer International Publishing 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4735091/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26877896
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40064-016-1716-5
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author Faanu, A.
Adukpo, O. K.
Tettey-Larbi, L.
Lawluvi, H.
Kpeglo, D. O.
Darko, E. O.
Emi-Reynolds, G.
Awudu, R. A.
Kansaana, C.
Amoah, P. A.
Efa, A. O.
Ibrahim, A. D.
Agyeman, B.
Kpodzro, R.
Agyeman, L.
author_facet Faanu, A.
Adukpo, O. K.
Tettey-Larbi, L.
Lawluvi, H.
Kpeglo, D. O.
Darko, E. O.
Emi-Reynolds, G.
Awudu, R. A.
Kansaana, C.
Amoah, P. A.
Efa, A. O.
Ibrahim, A. D.
Agyeman, B.
Kpodzro, R.
Agyeman, L.
author_sort Faanu, A.
collection PubMed
description Levels of naturally occurring radioactive materials prior to processing of gold ore within and around the new eastern concession area of Perseus Mining (Ghana) Limited were carried out to ascertain the baseline radioactivity levels. The study was based on situ measurements of external gamma dose rate at 1 m above ground level as well as laboratory analysis by direct gamma spectrometry to quantify the radionuclides of interest namely; (238)U, (232)Th and (40)K in soil, rock, ore samples and gross alpha/beta analysis in water samples. The average absorbed dose rate in air at 1 m above sampling point using a radiation survey metre was determined to be 0.08 ± 0.02 μGyh(−1) with a corresponding average annual effective dose calculated to be 0.093 ± 0.028 mSv. The average activity concentrations of (238)U, (232)Th, and (40)K in the soil, rock, and ore samples were 65.1 ± 2.2, 71.8 ± 2.2 and 1168.3 Bqkg(−1) respectively resulting in an average annual effective dose of 0.91 ± 0.32 mSv. The average Radium equivalent activity value was 257.8 ± 62.4 Bqkg(−1) in the range of 136.6–340.2 Bqkg(−1). The average values of external and internal indices were 0.7 ± 0.2 and 0.9 ± 0.2 respectively. The average gross alpha and gross beta activity concentrations in the water samples were determined to be 0.0032 ± 0.0024 and 0.0338 ± 0.0083 Bql(−1) respectively. The total annual effective dose from the pathways considered for this study (gamma ray from the soil, rock and ore samples as well as doses determined from the gross alpha/beta activity concentration in water samples) was calculated to be 0.918 mSv. The results obtained in this study shows that the radiation levels are within the natural background radiation levels found in literature and compare well with similar studies for other countries and the total annual effective dose is below the ICRP recommended level of 1 mSv for public exposure control.
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spelling pubmed-47350912016-02-12 Natural radioactivity levels in soils, rocks and water at a mining concession of Perseus gold mine and surrounding towns in Central Region of Ghana Faanu, A. Adukpo, O. K. Tettey-Larbi, L. Lawluvi, H. Kpeglo, D. O. Darko, E. O. Emi-Reynolds, G. Awudu, R. A. Kansaana, C. Amoah, P. A. Efa, A. O. Ibrahim, A. D. Agyeman, B. Kpodzro, R. Agyeman, L. Springerplus Research Levels of naturally occurring radioactive materials prior to processing of gold ore within and around the new eastern concession area of Perseus Mining (Ghana) Limited were carried out to ascertain the baseline radioactivity levels. The study was based on situ measurements of external gamma dose rate at 1 m above ground level as well as laboratory analysis by direct gamma spectrometry to quantify the radionuclides of interest namely; (238)U, (232)Th and (40)K in soil, rock, ore samples and gross alpha/beta analysis in water samples. The average absorbed dose rate in air at 1 m above sampling point using a radiation survey metre was determined to be 0.08 ± 0.02 μGyh(−1) with a corresponding average annual effective dose calculated to be 0.093 ± 0.028 mSv. The average activity concentrations of (238)U, (232)Th, and (40)K in the soil, rock, and ore samples were 65.1 ± 2.2, 71.8 ± 2.2 and 1168.3 Bqkg(−1) respectively resulting in an average annual effective dose of 0.91 ± 0.32 mSv. The average Radium equivalent activity value was 257.8 ± 62.4 Bqkg(−1) in the range of 136.6–340.2 Bqkg(−1). The average values of external and internal indices were 0.7 ± 0.2 and 0.9 ± 0.2 respectively. The average gross alpha and gross beta activity concentrations in the water samples were determined to be 0.0032 ± 0.0024 and 0.0338 ± 0.0083 Bql(−1) respectively. The total annual effective dose from the pathways considered for this study (gamma ray from the soil, rock and ore samples as well as doses determined from the gross alpha/beta activity concentration in water samples) was calculated to be 0.918 mSv. The results obtained in this study shows that the radiation levels are within the natural background radiation levels found in literature and compare well with similar studies for other countries and the total annual effective dose is below the ICRP recommended level of 1 mSv for public exposure control. Springer International Publishing 2016-02-01 /pmc/articles/PMC4735091/ /pubmed/26877896 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40064-016-1716-5 Text en © Faanu et al. 2016 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
spellingShingle Research
Faanu, A.
Adukpo, O. K.
Tettey-Larbi, L.
Lawluvi, H.
Kpeglo, D. O.
Darko, E. O.
Emi-Reynolds, G.
Awudu, R. A.
Kansaana, C.
Amoah, P. A.
Efa, A. O.
Ibrahim, A. D.
Agyeman, B.
Kpodzro, R.
Agyeman, L.
Natural radioactivity levels in soils, rocks and water at a mining concession of Perseus gold mine and surrounding towns in Central Region of Ghana
title Natural radioactivity levels in soils, rocks and water at a mining concession of Perseus gold mine and surrounding towns in Central Region of Ghana
title_full Natural radioactivity levels in soils, rocks and water at a mining concession of Perseus gold mine and surrounding towns in Central Region of Ghana
title_fullStr Natural radioactivity levels in soils, rocks and water at a mining concession of Perseus gold mine and surrounding towns in Central Region of Ghana
title_full_unstemmed Natural radioactivity levels in soils, rocks and water at a mining concession of Perseus gold mine and surrounding towns in Central Region of Ghana
title_short Natural radioactivity levels in soils, rocks and water at a mining concession of Perseus gold mine and surrounding towns in Central Region of Ghana
title_sort natural radioactivity levels in soils, rocks and water at a mining concession of perseus gold mine and surrounding towns in central region of ghana
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4735091/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26877896
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40064-016-1716-5
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