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Natural radionuclide survey in the coastal strip of the 290 Ramsar site, Uruguay

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Abstract

An initial on-going survey of the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K for sand samples collected within the coastal strip of 290 Ramsar site evaluated the external hazard index, the outdoor annual effective dose equivalent and the radium equivalent activity, to elucidate potential risks for the resident inhabitants. The range of mean activity concentrations in the whole area for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were between 4.12 ± 0.26 and 48.3 ± 1.4, 5.47 ± 0.55 and 194 ± 13, 77.7 ± 4.2 and 445 ± 18 Bq kg−1, respectively. The Barra de Valizas–Aguas Dulces region had the highest activity concentrations of 226Ra and 232Th. The annual effective dose equivalent for this region was higher than the mean worldwide value, whereas it is lower than the recommended values for public exposure.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are particularly grateful to G. Azcune for his assistance with the activity concentration maps.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grupo de Desarrollo de Materiales y Estudios Ambientales, Departamento de Desarrollo Tecnológico, Centro Universitario Regional del Este, Universidad de la República, Ruta 9 y Ruta 15, 27000, Rocha, Uruguay

    Ana Noguera, Heinkel Bentos Pereira & Laura Fornaro

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  1. Ana Noguera
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  2. Heinkel Bentos Pereira
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  3. Laura Fornaro
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Correspondence to Ana Noguera.

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Noguera, A., Bentos Pereira, H. & Fornaro, L. Natural radionuclide survey in the coastal strip of the 290 Ramsar site, Uruguay. Environ Earth Sci 77, 755 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7944-y

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