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Estimation of the natural radioactivity levels in the soil along the Little Zab River, Kurdistan Region in Iraq

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Abstract

Gamma-ray spectrometry with high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector was used to estimate the natural radioactivity levels in the soil along the Little Zab River in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Results showed that the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs were in ranges of 4.4–34.7, 1.5–13.3, 42.1–583.9 and 0.5–31.5 Bq kg−1, respectively. Ra equivalent activities, absorbed dose rate and hazard indices in the study area were calculated and compared with the global average activity of the soil. The Ra equivalent activities of the studied samples were below the internationally accepted values and did not pose any health hazard to the population.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Director of the Laboratory of Nuclear Radioactivity and the Director of the Centre for Scientific Research at Koya University for their support in the conduct of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences and Health, Koya University, Koya, KOY45, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

    Jahfer M. Smail

  2. School of Medicine, Koya University, Koya, KOY45, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

    Saddon T. Ahmad

  3. Department of Physics, College of Education, Salahaddin University, Hawler, Iraq

    Habeeb Hanna Mansour

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Correspondence to Jahfer M. Smail.

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Smail, J.M., Ahmad, S.T. & Mansour, H.H. Estimation of the natural radioactivity levels in the soil along the Little Zab River, Kurdistan Region in Iraq. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 331, 119–128 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-08064-5

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