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Evaluation of natural radioactivity levels and potential radiological hazards of common building materials utilized in Mediterranean region, Turkey

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Abstract

Radiometric measurement of building materials is very important to assess the internal and external exposure caused by the ionizing radiation emitted from terrestrial radionuclides in building materials. The activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in fifty-eight samples of fifteen different structural and covering building materials commonly used in Osmaniye province located in the Mediterranean region of Turkey were measured by using gamma-ray spectroscopy. The activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K varied from 2.5 ± 0.1 (marble) to 145.7 ± 4.4 (clay brick), 1.3 ± 0.1 (marble) to 154.3 ± 4.1 (marble), and 8.6 ± 0.2 (sand) to 1044.1 ± 70.3 (granite), respectively. Radiological parameters (activity concentration index, alpha index, indoor absorbed gamma dose rate and the corresponding annual effective dose rate, and excess lifetime cancer risk) were estimated to evaluate the health hazards associated with these building materials. Since the estimated values of these parameters are within the recommended safety limits or criteria values, the use of the studied building materials in the construction of dwellings can be considered to be safe for the residents of the region.

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Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article; anyway, datasets are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Letters, Kastomunu University, 37150, Kastamonu, Turkey

    Şeref Turhan & Asli Kurnaz

  2. Department of Electronics and Communication, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Beykent University, Sarıyer, İstanbul, Turkey

    Muhammet Karataşlı

Authors
  1. Şeref Turhan
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  2. Asli Kurnaz
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  3. Muhammet Karataşlı
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Contributions

M. Karataşlı collected the building samples and prepared the samples for the radioactivity measurements. A. Kurnaz and Ş. Turhan performed the laboratory measurements and analyzed the spectra and done the spectra evaluations and the data analysis including the statistical analysis. Ş. Turhan was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Asli Kurnaz.

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Turhan, ., Kurnaz, A. & Karataşlı, M. Evaluation of natural radioactivity levels and potential radiological hazards of common building materials utilized in Mediterranean region, Turkey. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 10575–10584 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16505-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16505-7

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