Estimation of annual effective dose from radon concentration along Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) in Garhwal Himalaya

Indoor radon and thoron concentration plays a vital role in the total effective dose in the indoor environments. In the present study, the measurement of indoor radon, soil gas radon concentration and the drinking water radon concentration was carried out in Rajpur area of Dehradun valley located near by the geological fault line named Main Boundary Thrust (MBT). The measurement was carried out using RAD-7, a solid state detector with its special accessory. The indoor radon concentration varies from 35 to 150 Bqm−3 with an average value of 85 Bqm−3. The soil-gas radon concentration varies from 2 to 12.3 kBqm−3 with an average value of 6.5 kBqm−3. Radon concentration in water samples varies from 1.7 to 57.7 kBqm−3 with an average value of 20 kBqm−3. These results are helpful for estimation of annual effective dose, ingestion dose and inhalation doses. The annual effective dose varies from 0.88 to 3.78 mSvy−1 with an average value of 2.13 mSvy−1. The annual ingestion dose due to drinking water was found to vary from 0.36 to 7.91 mSvy−1 with an average value of 3.92 mSvy−1. The annual inhalation dose was found to vary from 0.0042 to 0.1454 mSvy−1 with an average of 0.0504 mSvy−1.