1. Environmental Estimation of Radiation Equivalent Dose Rates in Soils and Waters of Northern Calabria (Italy)
- Author
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Tommaso Caloiero, Nicola Ricca, Giovanni Callegari, Ilaria Guagliardi, and Ernesto Infusino
- Subjects
Radionuclide ,geography ,QE1-996.5 ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,Article Subject ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Soil test ,Equivalent dose ,Calabria ,Soil science ,Geology ,Massif ,010501 environmental sciences ,01 natural sciences ,Radiation Equivalent Dose Rates ,Soil water ,Spring (hydrology) ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Environmental science ,Soils ,Sample collection ,Water quality ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Waters - Abstract
In this study, the equivalent dose rate of natural radionuclides ( H T ) in 99 spring water and surface soil samples was determined using an alpha, beta, and gamma high sensitivity detector up within a Geiger-Muller tube and with an external probe NaI (Tl). The samples were collected in the Crati basin (southern Italy), and during sample collection, water quality parameters were detected in situ and at the University of Calabria laboratories. A Pearson correlation coefficient analysis was applied to identify and clarify the relationships between water physical-chemical properties and soil and water radioactivity. Results show that the mean H T for spring waters is 97.07 μSv/h. Furthermore, the mean H T for surface soils is 97.92 μSv/h, thus evidencing higher mean H T values than worldwide ones reported in a previous literature. Low correlation coefficients were detected between water H T and conductivity and pH. On the contrary, a reasonable correlation was found between H T in spring water and in soil. This relationship is associated with some rocks of the Sila Massif and of Coastal Chain, i.e., plutonic and metamorphic crystalline rocks. Finally, the estimation of the health risk was calculated: results did not evidence serious dangers for people living in the studied environment. The results from this survey for the H T evaluation provide an extensive assessment of the background exposure levels in the investigated area.
- Published
- 2021
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