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Risk analysis from naturally occurring radioactive materials in the Jamaican terrestrial environment

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Abstract

In this work, statistics and geospatial analysis are used to investigate the hypothesis that either bauxitic soils or underlying geology increases the carcinogenic health risks to the population due to exposure from naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in the soil environment over which they reside. The rationale for this study is the large distribution of bauxitic soils in Jamaica and a review of the last published 5-year cancer survey study of Jamaica. A negative health environment was defined as one where the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) value exceeded the world mean value of 2.9 × 10−4 and the annual gonadal dose equivalent (AGDE) was a multiple of the acceptable level of 300 μSv/year. The excess lifetime cancer risk index in Jamaica ranges from 0.16 × 10−5 to 7.92 × 10−4 with a mean value of 1.63 × 10 −4. The mean value of the ELCR index in Jamaica was statistically significantly lower than the world mean value. The main areas of concern were the sections of the parishes of Manchester and St. Elizabeth which exhibited value of up to five (5) times the acceptable level of the ELCR index. The AGDE index showed a moderate correlation of 0.511 with a reclassified geology group (limestone and non-limestone) introduced in this study. The soils overlaying limestone formations in Jamaica were characterized by a statistically significantly higher dose rate exposure to the gonads of the population. Geological explanations for the levels of the primordial radionuclides are also discussed in this paper. The results suggested that limestone geology in Jamaica had a significantly higher mean value for both indices (ELCR and AGDE) when compared to other geologies. Since bauxitic soils predominantly overlay these rocks in Jamaica, the research hypothesis regarding the impact bauxitic soils is supported by the results of this study. The impact of geology was not significant, and probable causes are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the contribution of Dr. Costas Kalfas, Demokritos, Greece, for the provision of the SPECTRW gamma-ray spectroscopy analytical software and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the outfitting of the Radioecology Lab at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. We also thank Professor Hanchard and Dr. Tracey Gibson from the Department of Pathology for providing cancer prevalence data and sharing their insight for a long range study of the problem.

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  1. Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Mona, Kingston 6, Jamaica

    Maurice O. Miller & Mitko Voutchkov

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  1. Maurice O. Miller
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  2. Mitko Voutchkov
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Correspondence to Maurice O. Miller.

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Miller, M., Voutchkov, M. Risk analysis from naturally occurring radioactive materials in the Jamaican terrestrial environment. Air Qual Atmos Health 9, 551–560 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-015-0360-5

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