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Radiological characterization of building materials used in Malaysia and assessment of external and internal doses

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In this study, the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, 222Rn, and 40K, emanation fractions (P), equilibrium equivalent concentration (EEC), and mass exhalation rates (Em) of radon released from building materials used in Malaysia were studied using gamma-ray spectrometer with HPGe detector. Radiological parameters [activity concentration index (ACI), indoor air-absorbed dose rate (Din), annual effective dose (AEDin) from external and internal (ERn), soft tissues (HST) and lung (HL), and effective dose equivalent (Heff)] were estimated to evaluate radiological hazards due to the use of these building materials: sand, cement, gravel, bricks, tiles, fly ash, white cement, and ceramic raw materials. The measured P, EEC, and Em vary from 10 to 30%, 0.9 to 22 Bq m−3, and 33 to 674 mBq h−1 kg−1, respectively, while the calculated ACI and AEDin vary from 0.1 ± 0.01 to 2.1 ± 0.1 and 0.1 ± 0.01 to 2.4 ± 0.6 mSv y−1, respectively. On the other hand, the internal annual effective dose ranges from 0.1 to 1.4 mSv y−1. The estimated radiological risk parameters were below the recommended maximum values, and radiological hazards associated with building materials under investigation are therefore negligible.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge all laboratory technicians of the Nuclear Science Program, UKM, for their technical support throughout the works. Shittu Abdullahi also wishes to appreciate and acknowledge Gombe State University, Gombe, Nigeria, for providing the Ph.D fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Science Program, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Shittu Abdullahi & Aznan Fazli Ismail

  2. Centre for Frontier Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Aznan Fazli Ismail & Supian Samat

  3. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Gombe State University, P.M.B. 127, Gombe, Nigeria

    Shittu Abdullahi

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  1. Shittu Abdullahi
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Correspondence to Aznan Fazli Ismail.

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A part of this research was supported by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Lynas Advanced Material Plant under Grant Numbers GGPM-2017-084 and ST-2017-012, respectively.

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Abdullahi, S., Ismail, A.F. & Samat, S. Radiological characterization of building materials used in Malaysia and assessment of external and internal doses. NUCL SCI TECH 30, 46 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-019-0569-3

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