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Assessment of Gamma Background Exposure Levels in some Selected Residential Houses in FCT Abuja, Nigeria |
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PP: 245- 248 |
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doi:10.18576/jrna/060309
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Author(s) |
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M.M. Idris,
A. Ubaidullah,
M.B. Sulayman,
B. Abdullahi,
M.A. Sidi,
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Abstract |
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In this study, the assessement of Gamma Background Exposure Levels in some selected residential houses in FCT Abuja, Nigeria has been studied. The in-situ background gamma exposure rate level for ten houses and two separate measurement in the surroundings of at least 5m away from the houses werecarried out using a well calibrated portable Radex Nuclear Radiation Meter (model: RD 1212) at 1 m hieght above ground leveland a Global Positioning System (GPS) was used to record the geograaphical locations.The radiological hazards indices such as Absorbed Dose Rate, Annual Effective Dose Equivalent and Excess Life Cancer Risk were evaluated and compared with the recommended standard by International Commission on Radiological Protection. The exposure level obtained for the residential houses and its surroundings ranged from 0.05 to 0.09μSv/h. The calculated ADR, AEDE, and ELCR ranged from 0.088to 0.158mSv/yr, 6.13 x 10-5 to 1.10 x 10-4mSv/yr, and 2.15 x 10-4 to 3.86 x 10-4 respectively. The mean values of the gamma background exposure levels (0.0713 mRh-1), absorbed dose rates (3.02x10-4 nGyh-1) and excess lifetime cancer risk (3.06×10-4) are below the recommended safe limits of 0.013 mRh-1, 84.0 nGyh-1, 0.29×10-3 respectively as recommended by UNSCEAR and ICRP. The mean annual effective dose equivalent (8.623x10-5 mSvy-1) is far below the recommended permissible limits of 1.00 mSvy-1 for general public exposure. The results showed that the houses and their surroundings within FCT Abuja investigated were radiologically safe and may not pose any risk to members of the public. |
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