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Estimation of radionuclides content and radon–thoron exhalation from commonly used building materials in India

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Abstract

Measurement of radium (226Ra) and thorium (232Th) content, and exhalation rate of radon (222Rn) and thoron (220Rn) from soil and building materials are important in the context of modeling indoor radon and thoron concentration. In this study, exhalation rates of radon and thoron from commonly used building materials in India were measured using active measurement techniques. Also the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and potassium (40K) in building materials were measured by HPGe gamma spectrometric technique. The activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K varied from 16.4 ± 4.4 to 114.7 ± 3.4, 13.3 ± 1.5 to 153.9 ± 16.6 and below detection limit to 1,007 ± 40 Bq/kg with arithmetic mean 40.3, 61.9 and 822 Bq/kg, respectively, for the examined building material samples. The radon exhalation rates from the building materials varied from 0.5 ± 0.01 to 62.9 ± 12.5 mBq/kg/h for powder samples, 73 ± 5 to 6,000 ± 310 mBq/m2/h for structural building materials while the thoron exhalation rates varied from 0.07 ± 0.27 to 15.03 ± 2.1 mBq/kg/h for samples in powder form. Radium equivalent activity calculated for coarse aggregate and brick powder samples ranged between 73 and 343 Bq/kg.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to Board of Research in Nuclear Science, Department of Atomic Energy, Mumbai, India, for providing the financial support in form of project 2011/36/25-BRNS to carry out this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, 136119, India

    Amit Kumar & R. P. Chauhan

  2. Radiological Protection and Advisory Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai, India

    Manish Joshi, Rama Prajith & B. K. Sahoo

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  1. Amit Kumar
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  2. R. P. Chauhan
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  3. Manish Joshi
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  4. Rama Prajith
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  5. B. K. Sahoo
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Correspondence to Amit Kumar.

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Kumar, A., Chauhan, R.P., Joshi, M. et al. Estimation of radionuclides content and radon–thoron exhalation from commonly used building materials in India. Environ Earth Sci 74, 1539–1546 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4146-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4146-8

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