Gross Alpha and Beta Radioactivity in Soil and Sediment around Selected Mining Sites of Kogi State, Nigeria

Enyinnya C. Uzuegbu¹, Gregory O. Avwiri², Benjamin C. Ndukwu¹ and Chinyere P. Ononugbo^2,

¹Institute of Natural Resources Environment and Sustainable Development (INRES), University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

²Environmental and Radiation Research Group, Department of Physics, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Cite this paper:
Enyinnya C. Uzuegbu, Gregory O. Avwiri, Benjamin C. Ndukwu and Chinyere P. Ononugbo. Gross Alpha and Beta Radioactivity in Soil and Sediment around Selected Mining Sites of Kogi State, Nigeria. Journal of Environment Pollution and Human Health. 2018; 6(4):157-164. doi: 10.12691/jephh-6-4-5

Abstract

The mean gross alpha and beta activities in soil and sediment around selected mining sites in Ike Kabba (gold), Ayedayo (feldspar-mica), Obajana (limestone), Itakpe (iron ore) and Okobo (coal) of Kogi State, Nigeria have been studied using Protean Instrument Corporation (PIC) MPC 2000DP. The average activities for gross alpha in soil obtained are 33.52±8.20Bq/kg (gold), 32.2±8.0Bq/kg (feldspar-mica), 12.94±6.88Bq/kg (limestone), 29.16±8.32Bq/kg (iron ore) and 25.92±7.52Bq/kg (coal). The average activities for gross beta in soil obtained are 65.6±11.88Bq/kg (gold), 67.02±11.84 Bq/kg (feldspar-mica) 14.26±9.62Bq/kg (limestone), 49.38±11.74Bq/kg (iron ore) and 69.76±11.88Bq/kg (coal). The average gross alpha activities in sediment ranged from 15.48±6.9 Bq/kg to 35.1±8.35Bq/kg (gold) while the average activities for gross beta ranged from 37.44±10.54Bq/kg to 43.85±10.98Bq/kg (coal). The average activity concentrations of gross alpha and beta in soil and sediment were compared with other literature values and correlations were made to determine direct relationships in the investigated samples.

Keywords:
gross alpha and beta radioactivity mining sites soil sediment risk analysis

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