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Natural radioactivity measurements and age-dependent dose assessment in groundwater from Al-Zulfi, Al-Qassim and Al-Majmaah regions, Saudi Arabia

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Abstract

In this study, the levels of natural radioactivity in the groundwater samples collected from 26 different locations in Al-Zulfi, Al-Qassim and Al-Majmaah regions were determined. The estimated average values of 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K, gross α and gross β activities in the samples were 0.87 Bq L−1, 1.33 Bq L−1, 4.22 Bq L−1, 36.82 mBq L−1 and 831.91 mBq L−1, respectively. We found that age-dependent effective ingestion dose from radionuclides in all samples were higher than WHO recommended levels of 0.1 µSv y−1 for adults 0.2 µSv y−1 for children and 0.26 µSv y−1 for infants while 20 sampling locations have age-dependent effective dose equivalent from β contributors were higher than WHO recommended level of 0.1 mSv y−1.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledged the financial support provided by King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (Project No. 35–37).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, College of Science in Zulfi, Majmaah University, Majmaah, 11952, Saudi Arabia

    T. Alharbi, A. Adel & M. A. Baloch

  2. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh, 11442, Saudi Arabia

    S. F. Alsagabi, Y. A. Alssalim, A. S. Alslamah & N. Alkhomashi

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  1. T. Alharbi
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  2. A. Adel
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  3. M. A. Baloch
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  6. A. S. Alslamah
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Correspondence to T. Alharbi.

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Alharbi, T., Adel, A., Baloch, M.A. et al. Natural radioactivity measurements and age-dependent dose assessment in groundwater from Al-Zulfi, Al-Qassim and Al-Majmaah regions, Saudi Arabia. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 318, 935–945 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6053-4

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