Natural radioactivity in soil samples of Yelagiri Hills, Tamil Nadu, India and the associated radiation hazards

The natural radioactivity of soils at Yelagiri hills has been studied in this paper. The radioactivities of 25 samples have been measured with a NaI(Tl) detector. The radioactivity concentrations of 238U, 232Th and 40K ranged from ≤2.17 to 53.23, 13.54 to 89.89 and from 625.09 to 2207.3 Bq kg−1, respectively. The measured activity concentrations for these radionuclides were compared with world average activity of soil. The average activity concentration of 232Th in the present study is 1.19 times higher than world median value while the activity of 238U and 40K is found to be lower. In order to evaluate the radiological hazard of the natural radioactivity, the radium equivalent activity Raeq, the absorbed dose rate DR, the annual effective dose rate and the external hazard index (Hex) have been calculated and compared with the internationally approved values. The study provides background radioactivity concentrations in Yelagiri hills.

► Soil radioactivity is used for base line data in future impact assessment.
► We report the results of radiation hazard parameters in soils of Yelagiri hills.
► The level of the natural radiation in the studied area does not exceed the norm.