Radium radioactivity in soil profiles following long term irrigation with high radioactivity fossil groundwater.

High radioactivity in a relatively saline confined aquifer water in different locations of the Disi area (South East of Jordan) was reported by some authors who recommended further investigation on the impact of that water on irrigated soils. Five well water samples (jointly used for irrigation and drinking) and 28 surface and subsurface soil samples from five profiles were collected from that area for the purpose of this study. Selected mineralogical, chemical, and physical properties of the soil samples were determined. Mineralogical compositions of the 28 soil samples were identified using x-ray diffraction, x-ray fluorescence, and ICP-MS techniques. Determination of activity concentrations of 238U, 226Ra and 228Ra in the five well waters and 22 soil samples from 4 sites (including a native soil) were determined using γ-ray spectroscopy. The results showed low salinity levels of both soil and water samples and low clay and organic matter contents in all soil samples. Kaolinite and mica were the dominant clay minerals with Fe substituting Al in the octahedral layer of these minerals. The average activity concentration of 226Ra and 228Ra in the well-water samples were 0.31 ± 0.09 and 1.74 ± 0.12 BqL-1, respectively. Such a high specific activity could be ascribed to the water enrichment with 228Ra diffusing from 232Th-rich sandstone geologic strata. Average concentrations of 238U and 232Th in the soil samples (0-120 cm depth) were 1.48 ± 0.38 mg kg-1 and 4.78 ± 1.55 mg kg-1, respectively. High correlation between these two radionuclides (R2 = 0.90) indicated no specific enhancement of these two metals from external sources, especially through chemical precipitation from irrigation water. Average activity concentration of 238U, 226Ra, and 228Ra in the soil samples were substantially low (20.8 ± 5.6, 16.94 ± 4.48, and 20.7 ± 6.2 Bq kg-1, respectively). No particular changes were observed when comparing concentration or radioactivity of these radionuclides with depth of a given soil or between irrigated and native soil samples at comparable depths. This could lead to the conclusion that there was no appreciable precipitation or adsorption of these radioactive metals from the percolating irrigation water onto the sandy soil complex.

Inhalation dose assessment of indoor radon progeny using biokinetic and dosimetric modeling and its application to Jordanian population.

High indoor radon concentrations in Jordan result in internal exposures of the residents due to the inhalation of radon and its short-lived progeny. It is therefore important to quantify the annual effective dose and further the radiation risk to the radon exposure. This study describes the methodology and the biokinetic and dosimetric models used for calculation of the inhalation doses exposed to radon progeny. The regional depositions of aerosol particles in the human respiratory tract were firstly calculated. For the attached progeny, the activity median aerodynamic diameters of 50 nm, 230 nm and 2500 nm were chosen to represent the nucleation, accumulation and coarse modes of the aerosol particles, respectively. For the unattached progeny, the activity median thermodynamic diameter of 1 nm was chosen to represent the free progeny nuclide in the room air. The biokinetic models developed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) were used to calculate the nuclear transformations of radon progeny in the human body, and then the dosimetric model was applied to estimate the organ equivalent doses and the effective doses with the specific effective energies derived from the mathematical anthropomorphic phantoms. The dose conversion coefficient estimated in this study was 15 mSv WLM(-1) which was in the range of the values of 6-20 mSv WLM(-1) reported by other investigators. Implementing the average indoor radon concentration in Jordan, the annual effective doses were calculated to be 4.1 mSv y(-1) and 0.08 mSv y(-1) due to the inhalation of radon progeny and radon gas, respectively. The total annual effective dose estimated for Jordanian population was 4.2 mSv y(-1). This high annual effective dose calculated by the dosimetric approach using ICRP biokinetic and dosimetric models resulted in an increase of a factor of two in comparison to the value by epidemiological study. This phenomenon was presented by the ICRP in its new published statement on radon.

Doses of external exposure in Jordan house due to gamma-emitting natural radionuclides in building materials.

The use of building materials containing naturally occurring radionuclides as (40)K, (232)Th, and (238)U and their progeny results in external exposures of the residents of such buildings. In the present study, indoor dose rates for a typical Jordan concrete room are calculated using Monte Carlo method. Uniform chemical composition of the walls, floor and ceiling as well as uniform mass concentrations of the radionuclides in walls, floor and ceiling are assumed. Using activity concentrations of natural radionuclides typical for the Jordan houses and assuming them to be in secular equilibrium with their progeny, the maximum annual effective doses are estimated to be 0.16, 0.12 and 0.22 mSv a(-1) for (40)K, (232)Th- and (238)U-series, respectively. In a total, the maximum annual effective indoor dose due to external gamma-radiation is 0.50 mSv a(-1). Additionally, organ dose coefficients are calculated for all organs considered in ICRP Publication 74. Breast, skin and eye lenses have the maximum equivalent dose rate values due to indoor exposures caused by the natural radionuclides, while equivalent dose rates for uterus, colon (LLI) and small intestine are found to be the smallest. More specifically, organ dose rates (nSv a(-1)per Bq kg(-1)) vary from 0.044 to 0.060 for (40)K, from 0.44 to 0.60 for radionuclides from (238)U-series and from 0.60 to 0.81 for radionuclides from (232)Th-series. The obtained organ and effective dose conversion coefficients can be conveniently used in practical dose assessment tasks for the rooms of similar geometry and varying activity concentrations and local-specific occupancy factors.

Investigations on the activity concentrations of 238U, 226RA, 228RA, 210PB and 40K in Jordan phosphogypsum and fertilizers.

The activity concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides ((238)U, (226)Ra, (228)Ra, (210)Pb and (40)K) in Jordanian phosphate ore, fertilizer material and phosphogypsum piles were investigated. The results show the partitioning of radionuclides in fertilizer products and phosphogypsum piles. The outcome of this study will enrich the Jordanian radiological map database, and will be useful for an estimation of the radiological impact of this industrial complex on the immediate environment. The activity concentration of (210)Pb was found to vary from 95 +/- 8 to 129 +/- 8 Bq kg(-1) with a mean value of 111 +/- 14 Bq kg(-1) in fertilizer samples, and from 364 +/- 8 to 428 +/- 10 Bq kg(-1) with a mean value of 391 +/- 30 Bq kg(-1) in phosphogypsum samples; while in phosphate wet rock samples, it was found to vary between 621 +/- 9 and 637 +/- 10 Bq kg(-1), with a mean value of 628 +/- 7 Bq kg(-1). The activity concentration of (226)Ra in fertilizer samples (between 31 +/- 4 and 42 +/- 5 Bq kg(-1) with a mean value of 37 +/- 6 Bq kg(-1)) was found to be much smaller than the activity concentration of (226)Ra in phosphogypsum samples (between 302 +/- 8 and 442 +/- 8 Bq kg(-1) with a mean value of 376 +/- 62 Bq kg(-1)). In contrast, the activity concentration of (238)U in fertilizer samples (between 1011 +/- 13 and 1061 +/- 14 Bq kg(-1) with a mean value of 1033 +/- 22 Bq kg(-1)) was found to be much higher than the activity concentration of (238)U in phosphogypsum samples (between 14 +/- 5 and 37 +/- 7 Bq kg(-1) with a mean value of 22 +/- 11 Bq kg(-1)). This indicates that (210)Pb and (226)Ra show similar behaviour, and are concentrated in phosphogypsum piles. In addition, both isotopes enhanced the activity concentration in phosphogypsum piles, while (238)U enhanced the activity concentration in the fertilizer. Due to the radioactivity released from the phosphate rock processing plants into the environment, the highest collective dose commitment for the lungs was found to be 1.02 person nGy t(-1). Lung tissue also shows the highest effect due the presence of (226)Ra in the radioactive cloud (0.087 person nGy t(-1)).

Mixed- and general-order kinetics applied to selected thermoluminescence glow curves.

Mixed-order (MO) and general-order (GO) kinetics expressions are applied to experimental glow curves of CaSO4:Ce, LiNaSO4:Eu, BaF2:Ce and SrF2:Er. The purpose is to compare the activation energies derived from the two models to investigate the correlation between the order of kinetics, b, and the parameter alpha of the MO model for real systems and to explore the validity of the correlation between b and alpha derived from the analysis of synthetic glow peaks or experimentally isolated single peak for complex glow curves. The two alternative routes resulted in clean fits with very close values of the sum of squared residuals. The general conclusions are: (1) the activation energies derived from the MO model are slightly higher than the ones derived from the GO model, but the difference appears to be insignificant, (2) the correlation between b and alpha is not smooth and the scatter in the b values for a given alpha is within the theoretically expected spread in the b value and (3) the MO expression is capable of evaluating the shape parameters as accurately as the GO expression with the advantage that it has a physical basis contrary to the purely empirical GO model.

Radioactivity and elemental analysis in the Ruseifa municipal landfill, Jordan.

In this study, a low background gamma-ray spectrometer based on a Hyper Pure Germanium detector was used to determine the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides in soil samples from various locations within the Ruseifa municipal landfill in Jordan. The chemical composition of the samples was also determined using a Wavelength Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer. The maximum and minimum annual outdoor effective doses were found to be 103 and 36microSva(-1) in the old landfill and Abu-Sayaah village, respectively. The annual outdoor effective dose at the recent landfill site was found to be 91microSva(-1). The annual effective dose equivalents from outdoor terrestrial gamma radiation at the old landfill and the recent landfill were higher than the typical worldwide value of 70microSva(-1). Thus, some remediation of the soils on both old and recent landfills should be considered before any development for public activities. This could be achieved by mixing with clean soil from areas which are known to have lower radiation background. The concentration of heavy metals Zn, Cr, and Ba in the three sites included in this study were found to be higher than the background levels in the soil samples of the control area (Abu-Sayaah village). The enrichment factors for the above three elements were calculated and found to be: complex building site: Zn=2.52 and Ba=1.33; old landfill site: Cr=1.88, Zn=3.64, and Ba=1.26; and recent landfill site: Cr=1.57, Zn=2.19, and Ba=1.28. There was a strong negative correlation between the concentrations of the metallic elements (Mg, Al, Mn, Fe and Rb) and the concentrations of Zn, Ba, and Cr. Moreover, a strong positive correlation was found between Zn, Ba, and Cr. Thus these elements were enriched in the solid waste.

Determination of uranium, thorium and potassium activity concentrations in soil cores in Araba valley, Jordan.

Soil samples were collected from six different locations in Araba valley, situated between Aqaba port and Dead sea. The samples have been analysed by using gamma-ray spectrometry. From the measured gamma-ray spectra, activity concentrations are determined for (238)U, (232)Th and (40)K. The mean activity concentration for (238)U, (232)Th and (40)K was found to be in the range 19 +/- 1.4 to 38.7 +/- 3, 14.3 +/- 0.8 to 35 +/- 3.2 and 94 +/- 18.9 to 762 +/- 47.4 Bq kg(-1), respectively. These results indicate that the mean concentrations of (238)U, (232)Th and (40)K in the populated Araba valley are lower than those in other populated areas. On the other hand, the concentrations of the major oxides (Al(2)O(3), SiO(2), K(2)O, CaO and Fe(2)O(3)) in the samples were determined using wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence. High potassium and iron content in some samples might be attributed to the active faults, which refer to the Dead sea transform fault.

Exposure to radiation from the natural radioactivity in Jordanian building materials.

The natural radioactivity due to the presence of (226)Ra, (232)Th and (40)K in selected building materials used in Jordanian building constructions has been measured using gamma-ray spectrometer with a Hyper Pure germanium detector. The average activity concentrations observed in different building materials ranged from 27.7 +/- 7.5 to 70.4 +/- 2.8, 5.9 +/- 0.67 to 32.9 +/- 3.9 and 30.8 +/- 0.87 to 58.5 +/- 1.5 for (226)Ra, (232)Th and (40)K, respectively. The activity concentrations of (226)Ra measured in fine aggregates was found to be among the highest values obtained in this work. The ranges of the calculated Ra-equivalent were found to be lower than those values recommended for construction materials (370 Bq kg(-1)). The average internal and external hazard indices were found to be <1. The average of the calculated annual gonadal equivalent dose was found to be 198 microSv y(-1). Results indicate no significant radiological hazards arise from using such materials in building construction.

Thorium and uranium contents in human urine: influence of age and residential area.

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been used for the determination of (232)Th and (238)U in urine of unexposed Jordanian subjects living in six cities. The range of (232)Th excretion in all subjects was found to be 1.4-640 microBq d(-1) with an average of 34.8 microBq d(-1) (geometric mean 15.8 microBq d(-1)). Results showed no statistically significant correlation with age and residential area. The average value obtained is in agreement with levels considered normal in some recent publications. The average value of (238)U in all samples was found to be 3955 microBq d(-1) (geometric mean 1107 microBq d(-1)), which is higher than reported figures from Germany and India, but in agreement with those figures given in ICRP publication, number 23. The mean values of the different groups were found to be proportional to age up to 60 years. A noticeable drop is observed for subjects greater than 60 years old.