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Investigation of Radionuclide Levels in Groundwater Around Transmission Company of Nigeria for Environmental Impact Assessment

Received: 9 November 2019    Accepted: 2 December 2019    Published: 11 December 2019
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Abstract

The activity concentrations of 40K, 238U and 232Th in groundwaters taken from areas surrounding Transmission Company of Nigeria, Osogbo, Nigeria were measured to highlight and ascertain possible radionuclide pollution. High-resolution gamma spectrometry (HPGe detector) was used to determine the activity concentration of these radionuclides and the results obtained were used to calculate human radiological risk by the inhabitants in the area. The activity concentrations of 40K in all the groundwater samples range from 53.48 ± 2.90 to 407.58 ± 20.94 Bq/L. The activity concentrations of 238U in the groundwaters range from BDL to 21.86 ± 3.05 Bq/L. The activity concentrations of the 232Th in the groundwaters range from 2.18 ± 0.14 to 11.76 ± 0.68 Bq/L. Of the three investigated radionuclides, 40K was observed to have the highest mean activity concentration. The radiological parameters indicated mean values of 15.25 nGy/hr as the absorbed dose rate, 0.13 mSv/yr as the annual effective dose, 0.10 Bq/kg as the internal hazard index, 0.08 Bq/L as the external hazard index, 110.02 µsvy-1 as the annual gonadal dose equivalent, 0.24 as the representative gamma index and 31.11 as the radium equivalent. These suggested that the groundwaters do not pose intrinsic radiological hazards as a result of their relatively lower values than the UNSCEAR permissible levels. As a result of this, the occurrence of any heath effect due to radiation is low. These measurements therefore represent baseline values of these radionuclides in the ground waters of the studying area and further monitoring of these groundwaters should be encouraged.

Published in Nuclear Science (Volume 4, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ns.20190404.15
Page(s) 66-71
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, 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 or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Activity Concentration, Gamma Index, Gamma Ray Spectrometer, Groundwater, Radiation

References
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[14] Avwiri, G. O., and C. P. Ononugbo. 2012. Natural radioactivity levels in surface soil of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Oil and Gas Fields. Energy, Science and Technology. 4 (2): 92–101.
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  • APA Style

    Abiodun Odunlami Adegunwa, Shola Hezekiah Awojide, Odunayo Timothy Ore. (2019). Investigation of Radionuclide Levels in Groundwater Around Transmission Company of Nigeria for Environmental Impact Assessment. Nuclear Science, 4(4), 66-71. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ns.20190404.15

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    ACS Style

    Abiodun Odunlami Adegunwa; Shola Hezekiah Awojide; Odunayo Timothy Ore. Investigation of Radionuclide Levels in Groundwater Around Transmission Company of Nigeria for Environmental Impact Assessment. Nucl. Sci. 2019, 4(4), 66-71. doi: 10.11648/j.ns.20190404.15

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    AMA Style

    Abiodun Odunlami Adegunwa, Shola Hezekiah Awojide, Odunayo Timothy Ore. Investigation of Radionuclide Levels in Groundwater Around Transmission Company of Nigeria for Environmental Impact Assessment. Nucl Sci. 2019;4(4):66-71. doi: 10.11648/j.ns.20190404.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ns.20190404.15,
      author = {Abiodun Odunlami Adegunwa and Shola Hezekiah Awojide and Odunayo Timothy Ore},
      title = {Investigation of Radionuclide Levels in Groundwater Around Transmission Company of Nigeria for Environmental Impact Assessment},
      journal = {Nuclear Science},
      volume = {4},
      number = {4},
      pages = {66-71},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ns.20190404.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ns.20190404.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ns.20190404.15},
      abstract = {The activity concentrations of 40K, 238U and 232Th in groundwaters taken from areas surrounding Transmission Company of Nigeria, Osogbo, Nigeria were measured to highlight and ascertain possible radionuclide pollution. High-resolution gamma spectrometry (HPGe detector) was used to determine the activity concentration of these radionuclides and the results obtained were used to calculate human radiological risk by the inhabitants in the area. The activity concentrations of 40K in all the groundwater samples range from 53.48 ± 2.90 to 407.58 ± 20.94 Bq/L. The activity concentrations of 238U in the groundwaters range from BDL to 21.86 ± 3.05 Bq/L. The activity concentrations of the 232Th in the groundwaters range from 2.18 ± 0.14 to 11.76 ± 0.68 Bq/L. Of the three investigated radionuclides, 40K was observed to have the highest mean activity concentration. The radiological parameters indicated mean values of 15.25 nGy/hr as the absorbed dose rate, 0.13 mSv/yr as the annual effective dose, 0.10 Bq/kg as the internal hazard index, 0.08 Bq/L as the external hazard index, 110.02 µsvy-1 as the annual gonadal dose equivalent, 0.24 as the representative gamma index and 31.11 as the radium equivalent. These suggested that the groundwaters do not pose intrinsic radiological hazards as a result of their relatively lower values than the UNSCEAR permissible levels. As a result of this, the occurrence of any heath effect due to radiation is low. These measurements therefore represent baseline values of these radionuclides in the ground waters of the studying area and further monitoring of these groundwaters should be encouraged.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Investigation of Radionuclide Levels in Groundwater Around Transmission Company of Nigeria for Environmental Impact Assessment
    AU  - Abiodun Odunlami Adegunwa
    AU  - Shola Hezekiah Awojide
    AU  - Odunayo Timothy Ore
    Y1  - 2019/12/11
    PY  - 2019
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ns.20190404.15
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ns.20190404.15
    T2  - Nuclear Science
    JF  - Nuclear Science
    JO  - Nuclear Science
    SP  - 66
    EP  - 71
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2640-4346
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ns.20190404.15
    AB  - The activity concentrations of 40K, 238U and 232Th in groundwaters taken from areas surrounding Transmission Company of Nigeria, Osogbo, Nigeria were measured to highlight and ascertain possible radionuclide pollution. High-resolution gamma spectrometry (HPGe detector) was used to determine the activity concentration of these radionuclides and the results obtained were used to calculate human radiological risk by the inhabitants in the area. The activity concentrations of 40K in all the groundwater samples range from 53.48 ± 2.90 to 407.58 ± 20.94 Bq/L. The activity concentrations of 238U in the groundwaters range from BDL to 21.86 ± 3.05 Bq/L. The activity concentrations of the 232Th in the groundwaters range from 2.18 ± 0.14 to 11.76 ± 0.68 Bq/L. Of the three investigated radionuclides, 40K was observed to have the highest mean activity concentration. The radiological parameters indicated mean values of 15.25 nGy/hr as the absorbed dose rate, 0.13 mSv/yr as the annual effective dose, 0.10 Bq/kg as the internal hazard index, 0.08 Bq/L as the external hazard index, 110.02 µsvy-1 as the annual gonadal dose equivalent, 0.24 as the representative gamma index and 31.11 as the radium equivalent. These suggested that the groundwaters do not pose intrinsic radiological hazards as a result of their relatively lower values than the UNSCEAR permissible levels. As a result of this, the occurrence of any heath effect due to radiation is low. These measurements therefore represent baseline values of these radionuclides in the ground waters of the studying area and further monitoring of these groundwaters should be encouraged.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria

  • Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria

  • Department of Chemistry, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

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