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Assessment of concentration of radium, thorium, and potassium in soils of Rohtak and Jind districts of Haryana

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Abstract

The study assessed natural radioactivity in Rohtak and Jind districts, Haryana, India. Concentrations of radionuclides in soil and building materials were measured using gamma-ray spectroscopy. The “Canister Technique” was employed to estimate radon mass exhalation and surface exhalation rates. Results showed low radiation doses from soil radioactivity, with activity concentrations ranging from 3.7 to 51.7 Bq/kg for radium, 7.3 to 96 Bq/kg for thorium, and 52.2 to 585 Bq/kg for potassium. The findings also calculated radium equivalent activity, annual effective dose rate, hazard indices, and excess life time cancer risk. This research highlights the importance of understanding natural radioactivity for assessing environmental radiation exposure.

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Funding

The authors Vimal Mehta, Deep Shikha and Chandan gratefully acknowledges the funding support provided by Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences through a research project (Sanction no.56/14/01/2019-BRNS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Khalsa College, Sri Anandpur Sahib, 140118, India

    Vimal Mehta, Deep Shikha & Chandan Kapil

  2. Department of Physics, Baba Mast Nath University, Rohtak, 124021, India

    Amit Kumar & Sunita Dahiya

  3. Department of Physics, Punjabi University, Patiala, 147002, India

    Chandan Kapil

  4. Centre for Advanced Research in Environmental Radioactivity, Mangalore University, Mangalagangothri, Mangalore, Karnataka, 574199, India

    Sudeep Kumara & N. Karunakara

Authors
  1. Vimal Mehta
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  2. Amit Kumar
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  3. Deep Shikha
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  4. Chandan Kapil
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  5. Sunita Dahiya
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  6. Sudeep Kumara
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  7. N. Karunakara
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Contributions

VM contributed to the study conception and design and provided equipment for sample processing. Material preparation, data collection was done by AK. The analysis of the soil samples data was performed by CK, SK and NK. The first draft of the manuscript was written by DS and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. Further changes in the manuscript were handled by CP and SD. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Additionally, each author affirms that the material presented in the manuscript has not been previously submitted to or published in any other publication before its submission to the Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deep Shikha.

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The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to declare. All co-authors have seen and agree with the contents of the manuscript. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Mehta, V., Kumar, A., Shikha, D. et al. Assessment of concentration of radium, thorium, and potassium in soils of Rohtak and Jind districts of Haryana. J Radioanal Nucl Chem (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-023-09175-x

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