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Assessment of radon radiological hazards in some ophiolite rocks, North Eastern Desert, Egypt

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Abstract

The natural stones are commonly used as interior and exterior building material. The accessory minerals of some rocks can generate a high amount of radon in the atmosphere. Ophiolitic rocks including serpentinites, metagabbros, gabbros metabasalts, metabasaltic-andesites, meta-andesites, Dokhan andesites, dacites, rhyolites, quartz diorites, tonalites, granodiorites, monzogranites and syenogranites. From the Eastern Desert of Egypt were analyzed for radon. The annual effective dose values of all studied rocks are higher than the world average due to the high radon content in the samples. The studied rocks are not recommended to be used as construction material.

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Acknowledgements

The author is very thankful to prof. Dr. Mervat El-Haddad from the Geology Department, Assiut University for her collaboration, positive discussions.

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  1. Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut, 71516, Egypt

    Ghada Salaheldin

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  1. Ghada Salaheldin
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Correspondence to Ghada Salaheldin.

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Salaheldin, G. Assessment of radon radiological hazards in some ophiolite rocks, North Eastern Desert, Egypt. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 328, 447–454 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-07660-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-07660-9

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