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A review on radionuclide pollution in global soils with environmental and health hazards evaluation

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Abstract

Human populations are being exposed to a wide spectrum of radiation from soils as a result of the availability of radiation sources. Assessing the ecological and health effects of radionuclides in soils is crucial to support the optimal soil management practices but large-scale studies are limited. This study compiled data on radionuclides (226Ra, 232Th, 40K, 238U, and 137Cs) in soils located across the world (44 countries and 159 places) between 2008 and 2022 and applied radiological hazards indices and several multivariate statistical approaches. The average activity concentration (Bq/kg) of 226Ra, 232Th, 40K, 238U, and 137Cs were 408.56, 144.80, 508.78, 532.78, and 83.12, respectively, whereas 226Ra, 232Th, 40K, and 238U exceeded the standard limits. The principal component analysis explained more than 91% of variation in soils. Based on the geoaccumulation index, 40K posed moderately to heavy contamination whereas 238U and 226Ra posed moderate contamination in soils. Moreover, the mean values of radiological hazards evaluation such as radium equivalent activity (487.17 Bq/kg), external radiation hazard indices (1.32), internal hazard indices (2.15), absorbed dose rate (247.86 nGyh−1), annual effective dose rate (1.82 mSvy−1), activity utilization index (4.54) and excess lifetime cancer risk (63.84 × 10–4) were higher than recommended limit suggesting significant radiological risks in study region soils. The findings indicated that the study area soils were contaminated by radionuclides and unsafe for hazards in terms of the health risks linked with studied radioactive contents. The study is valuable for mapping radioactivity across the globe to determine the level of radioactivity hazards.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgments

The authors express their gratitude to the reviewers of the manuscript for their valuable comments and suggestions during the review process.

Funding

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University for funding this work through a small group research project under grant number RGP1/120/44.

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Author notes

  1. Ram Proshad and Abubakr M. Idris have equally contributed to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet, 3100, Bangladesh

    Krishno Chandra

  2. Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, China

    Ram Proshad

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Ram Proshad

  4. Faculty of Agriculture, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Dumki Patuakhali, 8602, Bangladesh

    Hridoy Chandra Dey

  5. Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Khalid University, 62529, Abha, Saudi Arabia

    Abubakr M. Idris

  6. Research Center for Advanced Materials Science (RCAMS), King Khalid University, 62529, Abha, Saudi Arabia

    Abubakr M. Idris

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  1. Krishno Chandra
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  2. Ram Proshad
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  3. Hridoy Chandra Dey
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  4. Abubakr M. Idris
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Contributions

KC contributed to data curation, formal analysis, writing—original draft. RP contributed to conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, software, writing—original draft. HCD contributed to writing—original draft, correction of manuscript. AMI contributed to writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Ram Proshad.

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There are no conflicting interests stated by the authors. The items employed in this study are routinely used in our field of study and nation. There is no financial and non-financial interests interest arise among the authors.

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All of the investigations were carried out in compliance with the principles of national and international guidelines. Present study do not involve human participants. The manuscript has not been submitted or published in any form, in part or in whole.

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Chandra, K., Proshad, R., Dey, H.C. et al. A review on radionuclide pollution in global soils with environmental and health hazards evaluation. Environ Geochem Health 45, 9245–9266 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-023-01725-2

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