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Radionuclides Analysis of Some Soils and Food Crops in Barkin Ladi LGA ,Plateau State-Nigeria

2013; Bilingual Publishing; Volume: 3; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

2224-3216

D.I. Jwanbot, M.M. Izam, G.G. Nyam, H.N. John,

Graphite, nuclear technology, radiation studies

The investigation is aimed at establishing the activity concentrations in some farmland soils and crops across Barkin Ladi LGA. The activity concentrations of twenty (20) soil samples and twenty (20) food crop samples from the farmlands were determined using a multi-channel pulse-height analyzer (Camberra series 10 plus) coupled to a 76mm x 76mm NaI (Tl) scintillation detector. The activity concentration for 40 K, 226 Ra and 232 Th from the soil samples ranged from (144.30 ± 5.59) Bq/Kg to (282.58 ±4.82) Bq/Kg, (12.05 ± 9.73) Bq/Kg to (101.83 ± 1.85) Bq/Kg and (35.92 ± 1.71) Bq/Kg to (83.55± 3.62) Bq/Kg respectively. Hence the mean concentration obtained for each radionuclide is 218.93Bq/Kg for 40 K, 39.61Bq/Kg for 226 Ra and 58.90 Bq/Kg for 232 Th. This showed that these values are above the mean annual standards of 25 Bq/Kg and 25 Bq/Kg for 226 Ra and 232 Th except for 40 K which is lower than the mean annual value of 370Bq/Kg. The activity concentrations measured from most of the soil suggest that crops grown on these farms exhibit similar measurement because most crops have high intake from their roots. The activity concentration for 40 K, 226 Ra and 232 Th in the crops ranged from (41.59 ± 0.67) Bq/Kg to (198.26 ± 7.46) Bq/Kg, (12.05 ± 9.73) Bq/kg to (75.69 ± 3.71) Bq/Kg and (38.28 ± 1.82) Bq/kg to (89.28 ± 2.17) Bq/Kg, with mean values which stands at (114.75 ± 4.99) Bq/Kg for 40 K, (42.41 ± 4.67) Bq/Kg for 226 Ra and (62.01 ± 1.37) Bq/Kg for 232 Th respectively. Hence the results obtained in this study indicate that the activity concentration of the farmland soils and crops represent a significant health risk on the farmers and the consumers of the crops. Keyword : Activity concentration, soil, food crops, Gamma ray spectrometry and Radionuclides