Activity Concentration Assessment of Natural Radionuclides in Borehole Water and it's Radiological Impact from Akure, Nigeria

Ibikunle S.B., Ajayi O.S., Dada O.R

Abstract: The systematic study of activity concentration and the distribution of radionuclides in borehole water from Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria was carried out. A total of 7 samples from 7 different boreholes were collected and analyzed for activity concentrations of natural radionuclides of K-40, Ra-226 and Th-232 using a well-calibrated sodium-iodide NaI (Tl) detector. Gamma spectrometry analysis was performed and the mean concentrations obtained for 40K, 226Ra and 232Th were 76.16 18.97 Bql-1, 9.51 3.62 Bql-1 and 8.33 3.79Bql-1 respectively. The values of other radiological indices estimated also point that the health risk due to radioactivity form borehole water is higher than the recommended limits by NCRP and the health risk is very high most especially in infants of age between 0 1 year. The result in this work compared favorably with other result from similar studies all over the world.

Keywords: Activity Concentration, Boreholes, Gamma Spectrometry, Effective Dose, Health Risk