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In this article, an investigation of the natural radioactivity content of pyroclastic products from Mt. Etna, eastern Sicily, Southern Italy, was carried out. In particular, the assessment of the average activity concentration of the investigated radionuclides, related to the mineralogical phase composition of the analyzed samples, and the radiological health risk for the population, was performed. High Purity Germanium (HPGe) gamma-ray spectrometry was employed in order to quantify the average specific activity of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K natural radioisotopes. The absorbed gamma dose rate (D), the radium equivalent activity (Raeq), the hazard indices (Hin and Hex), the annual effective dose equivalent outdoor (AEDEout), and the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) were also estimated in order to assess any possible radiological hazard for the population. In our case, they were found to be lower than the maximum recommended values for the population members, thus reasonably excluding radiological hazard effects. Moreover, the identification of the source of the aforementioned naturally occurring radionuclides was attempted by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Micro-Raman Scattering (MRS), thereby recognizing the main radioisotope-bearing minerals present in the investigated pyroclastic products. Finally, Pearson correlation, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) were performed by processing observed radioactivity and radiological parameters in order to determine their correlation with the sampling locations.

In the present article, a case study is reported regarding an investigation carried out in order to assess radioactivity concentration, heavy metals pollution and mineralogy of a beach stretch extending from Soverato to Squillace municipalities of the Ionian coast of Calabria, South of Italy, a popular tourist destination, especially in summer. The analysis of radionuclides contents was performed by using a High Purity Germanium (HPGe) gamma-ray detector, in order to quantify the average specific activity of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K natural radionuclides and 137Cs anthropogenic radioisotope. The absorbed dose rate and the annual effective dose equivalent radiological hazard indices were also estimated. Furthermore, X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry measurements were carried out for the quantitative elemental analysis of the sand, in order to investigate any possible chemical pollution by heavy metals. For this aim, different indices such as Enrichment Factor (EF), Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo), Contamination Factor (CF) and Pollution Load Index (PLI) were applied to estimate the level of toxicity imposed on the ecosystem by the detected heavy metals. Finally, in order to identify the crystalline mineral components of the investigated sand samples, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Micro-Raman Scattering (MRS) measurements were carried out.