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Radiological risks from 40 K, 226Ra and 232Th in urbanised and industrialised karstic coastal area (Kaštela Bay, Croatia)

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Abstract

Radiological risks associated with 40 K, 226Ra and 232Th massic activities in limestones, marls, stream sediments and soils of the Kaštela Bay (Croatia) coastal area were assessed by calculating outdoor absorbed dose rates in air (D), annual outdoor effective dose rates (Def), radium equivalent activities (Raeq) and external hazard indices (Hex). Radionuclides relative contributions to D and Hex were determined for all four types of samples as well as their total contribution to Hex in all samples. D, Def, Raeq and Hex were the lowest in limestones and the highest in soils. Maximum Raeq and Hex in soil were below the recommended values of 370 Bq/kg and 1.0. No adverse radiological effects were determined in the researched area. The most important contribution to D and Hex in limestones was almost exclusively from 226Ra, in marls from 40 K, in stream sediments from 226Ra and in soils from 232Th. The most significant total contribution to Hex in all samples came from 226Ra and 232Th, and the lowest came from 40 K. 226Ra showed the largest variability of its total contribution to Hex, with tendency to higher values. Special attention should be given to 226Ra when studying radiological risks in typical karstic areas, irrespectively of other possible influences of geological background.

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Data Availability

The datasets used and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Gamma-spectrometry measurements were performed in the Laboratory for Radioecology of the Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI), and the article was prepared in the Laboratory for Low-Level Radioactivities of the RBI.

Funding

This work was funded by the Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports of the Republic of Croatia through the ‘Radionuclides and trace elements in environmental systems’ project (project number 098–0982934-2713). The funding source had no involvement in the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, writing of the article or in the decision to submit the article for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička cesta 54, 10 000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Ivanka Lovrenčić Mikelić & Delko Barišić

Authors
  1. Ivanka Lovrenčić Mikelić
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  2. Delko Barišić
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Contributions

ILM—conceptualization, methodology, collection of samples, data collection and analysis, interpretation of data, preparation and writing of the article; DB—conceptualization and methodology of sampling, collection of samples. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ivanka Lovrenčić Mikelić.

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Lovrenčić Mikelić, I., Barišić, D. Radiological risks from 40 K, 226Ra and 232Th in urbanised and industrialised karstic coastal area (Kaštela Bay, Croatia). Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 54632–54640 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19741-7

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