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Radiological significance of Pakistani marble used for construction of dwellings

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Abstract

Natural radioactivity in various types of marbles available in Rawalpindi/Islamabad industrial area have been assessed using HP(Ge) gamma-ray spectrometer. The concentration of 40K, 226Ra and 232Th ranges from 6.15 to 159.65 Bq.kg-1, 1.45 to 29.34 Bq.kg-1 and 1.16 to 6.28 Bq.kg-1, respectively. The radium equivalent activity lies between 5.56 to 33.42 Bq.kg-1. The average external and internal indices have been found to be 0.03 and 0.05, respectively. The average absorbed dose rate at 1 m was found to be 6.53 nGy.h-1. The estimated annual effective dose rate for whole body was found to be 0.04 mSv.y-1. These values are smaller than those predicted by UNSCEAR for normal background areas. The marbles analyzed pose less health hazard as compared to Pakistani baked bricks and other construction materials.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Physics Division, Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology P.O. Nilore, Islamabad, Pakistan

    M. Aslam, S. D. Orfi, K. Khan & A. Jabbar

Authors
  1. M. Aslam
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  2. S. D. Orfi
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  3. K. Khan
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  4. A. Jabbar
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Aslam, M., Orfi, S.D., Khan, K. et al. Radiological significance of Pakistani marble used for construction of dwellings. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 253, 483–487 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020438007471

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