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Human beings are constantly exposed to radioactivity in the environment. As they are major sources of harmful radiation, radionuclides found in the atmosphere might result in a substantial potential risk to living beings. On the Earth's surface, the radioactive elements uranium and radium are naturally present, contributing to radon and thoron gases in the indoor as well as outdoor climate, soil and water. Radon is one of the most important toxins that, after cigarette smoking, is the second most common cause of generating lung cancer. Due to these health-related concerns, a lot of work has been undertaken by numerous research organizations to determine their levels at different locations throughout the world. This paper is an attempt to comprehensively report with different techniques all those studies being carried out in this part of India so that a current assessment of the indoor radon levels should be available for further work in this field. Six northern Indian states, viz. Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan , Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are considered for this examination. This study also provides data on exhalation rates and activity concentration of natural radionuclides (226Ra, 232Th, and 40K) present in these states.

This study aimed to estimate the, exhalation rate, and natural radioactivity in the soil of Roopnagar district, Punjab. The radon mass and surface exhalation rate ranged from 1.18 mBq kg−1 h−1 to 5.72 mBq kg−1 h−1, with an average value of 2.68 mBq kg−1 h−1, and from 4.89 mBq m−2 h−1 to 23.58 mBq m−2 h−1, with an average value of 11.09 mBq m−2 h−1, respectively. The activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K was found to be 31.9 Bq kg−1, 44.1 Bq kg−1, and 419.0 Bq kg−1, respectively. The air absorbed dose rates of radionuclides 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K had an average value of 14.88 nGyh−1, 27.4 nGyh−1, and 5.89 nGyh−1, respectively. The total air absorbed dose from all radionuclides ranged from 19.5 nGyh−1 to 87.7 nGyh−1, with an average value of 48.1 nGyh−1, which is discovered to be well below the levels considered dangerous by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthesis of lithium borate glass system was carried using the melt quenching technique with varying concentrations of magnesium followed by analysing the different characteristics such as physical, structural, optical and thermoluminescene using various techniques eg. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Vis spectroscopy, and Thermoluminescence (TL). The obtained XRD pattern confirmed the amorphous nature of the prepared samples. Relevant physical parameters have been evaluated to study the response of these properties with respect to magnesium content. The density and molar volume values showed that the network structure changed with increasing magnesium content. It is evident from the FTIR spectra that the network of the prepared samples predominantly contains BO3 and BO4 units. The UV-vis spectra confirmed a decrease in the direct and indirect band gap values with increase in MgO content. Optical parameters namely refractive index, electronic polarizability, reflection loss and dielectric constant were also calculated and found to be in good correlation with other studies. Following gamma rays irradiation with different doses, TL glow curves of prepared glasses were analysed. Deconvolution of TL glow curves was done using glow curve convolution deconvolution (GCCD) function and trapping parameters of isolated peaks viz. activation energy and frequency factor have been determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radon (222Rn) and Thoron (220Rn) are radioactive noble gases which are produced in the decay chain of primordial radionuclides 238U and 232Th. These gases have been established as an important source of inhalation radiation dose to human which increases risk of lung cancer. Similarly the terrestrial 226Ra, 232Th, 40K are known to contribute to cumulative external background exposure to humans. In the present study, these radionuclides of concern were measured in the environment of monuments and museums in the state of Punjab and the resultant dose was calculated for the occupants. The calculated Annual Inhalation Dose level varied from 1.5 to 4.0 mSv with mean of 3.0 ± 0.8 mSv. The cumulative dose from all radionuclides 226Ra, 232Th and 40K is 47.0 ± 11.56 nGyh−1, found well within the safe limits of 86 nGyh−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, an exertion has been made to assess the indoor 222Rn and 220Rn levels in dwellings of a Roopnagar district of Punjab, India. These estimations have been done in the rainy, winter, autumn and summer season. The average indoor radon concentration is 44 ± 14.08 Bq m−3, 57.40 ± 17.61 Bq m−3, 32.38 ± 12.59 Bq m−3 and 31.38 ± 7.48 Bq m−3 and thoron concentration are 56.91 ± 19.75 Bq m−3, 64.45 ± 23.90 Bq m−3, 45.98 ± 19.38 Bq m−3 and 43.39 ± 10.45 Bq m−3 for rainy, winter, autumn and summer seasons, respectively. The mean value of equilibrium equivalent radon and thoron concentration during the rainy season is 11.25 ± 2.91 Bq m−3 and 0.62 ± 0.14 Bq m−3 and during winter season is 13.36 ± 3.36 Bq m−3 and 0.85 ± 0.34 Bq m−3 respectively. For autumn season these values are 9.58 ± 1.43 Bq m−3 and 0.46 ± 0.11 Bq m−3, respectively. For summer season these values are 12.10 ± 1.57 Bq m−3 and 0.57 ± 0.99 Bq m−3, respectively. The annual inhalation dose comes out to be 0.98 ± 0.16 mSv. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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