Radionuclides activity concentration in soil samples from residential areas nearby Gebeng, Kuantan

Ahmad Ruzman, Nor Mardhiyyah and Kamarul Zaman, Fatihah Syafinaz (2024) Radionuclides activity concentration in soil samples from residential areas nearby Gebeng, Kuantan. International Journal of Allied Health Sciences, 8 (5). pp. 99-103. E-ISSN 2600-8491

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Abstract

Background: The environment today has increased the intake of harmful substance which may cause the health issue among living things. For example, the present of Rare Earth Elements (REE) in most of electronic devices and its present within industrial environment. The usage of REE might cause the production of the radioactive by-products where it may present the radiological risk to the surrounding area nearby to the source of the radioactive material. Neighbourhood and residential areas located within the short radius with industrial zone such as Gebeng, Kuantan are crucial to be concerned as they are exposed to the soil contamination form the radionuclides released during the manufacturing activity at the industrial zone. Therefore, this article aims to determine the radionuclides activity concentration in soil samples from residential areas nearby Gebeng which are Taman Sungai Ular Jaya, Taman Balok Perdana, Taman Baluk Permai and Taman Batu Hitam. Methods: The soil samples from four residential areas nearby the Gebeng Industrial Park were collected at the playground area of each residential areas. The rocks, pebbles, dried leaves, roots, and other foreign objects were removed prior to weighing and the sample were dried for 24 hours with 60°C to eliminate the moisture. The sample were stored in a storage room for a month under room temperature for it to reach equilibrium state. To identify the radionuclide activity, the High Sensitivity Gamma Spectrometer (GDM10) was used measure to the concentration. Results: The average radionuclide activity concentration for four of residential areas includes 40K, 232Th and 226Ra were 0.584 x 10-6 Bq.kg-1, 1.246 x 10-6 Bq.kg-1 and 2.862 x 10-6 Bq.kg-1 respectively. The 40K was not detected in Taman Balok Perdana. 226Ra was not detected in Taman Batu Hitam. Conclusion: The finding revealed that all soil samples contained different levels of radionuclide activity concentration. All the concentration of all radionuclides were found to be within the specific limits recommended by UNSCEAR. Taman Batu Hitam and Taman Balok Perdana recorded undetected 226Ra and 40K respectively while both of Taman Sungai Ular Jaya and Taman Baluk Permai demonstrated similar trend of reading with 40K as the lowest average radionuclide activity concentration and 226Ra as the highest.

Item Type:	Article (Journal)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	radioactivity in soil; soil contamination; radionuclide level
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Allied Health Sciences Kulliyyah of Allied Health Sciences > Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy
Depositing User:	MS FATIHAH SYAFINAZ KAMARUL ZAMAN
Date Deposited:	10 Jan 2025 09:43
Last Modified:	10 Jan 2025 09:43
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/117693

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