Adagunodo, T. A. and Sunmonu, L. A. and Adabanija, Moruffdeen A. and Omeje, Maxwell and Odetunmibi, , O. A. and Ijeh, Victor (2019) 1Statistical Assessment of Radiation Exposure Risks of Farmers in Odo Oba, Southwestern Nigeria. Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration.
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Abstract
The toxicity risks of being over exposed to ionizing radiation in the environments are of great concern to scientists. The distribution of radioactivity concentrations of thorium, uranium and potassium were studied in randomly selected soil samples from ten (10) farm locations in Odo Oba, southwestern Nigeria in order to determine the radiological risks of farmers’ exposure to radionuclides. The radioactivity concentrations of thorium, potassium, and uranium varied from 11.37 to 101.91 Bq kg-1, 788.76 to 1693.30 Bq kg-1, and 12.35 to 50.64 Bq kg-1 respectively. The mean estimation of thorium and potassium are greater than the global average by factors of 1.5 and 2.7, while that of uranium fall below the global average. The estimation of radioactivity ratios showed that depletion of uranium and enrichment of thorium occur in the study area. The estimated radiological risks showed that the mean values of Dose Rate (DR), Annual Effective Dose (AED), Annual Gonadal Equivalent Dose (AGED), Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk (ELCR) and Gamma Radiation Hazard Index (Iγr) are greater than the global average by the factors of 1.42, 1.43, 2.04, 1.24 and 1.36 respectively. However, the mean of External Radiation Hazard Index (HExt) fall below the global average. The descriptive analysis revealed that 92.3% of the analyzed variables showed positive skewness, while 69% showed positive kurtosis as well. However, multivariate analyses involving Pearson’s correlation, Factor Analysis (FA), Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) were further used to explain the correlations among the data sets. It was affirmed from the multivariate analysis that the radiological hazards occur as a result of contributions from the three naturally occurring radionuclides (that is, thorium, uranium and potassium). The values obtained in this study revealed that the sampled locations are contaminated zones for farmers.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Radiation exposure, Farmers’ exposure risks, Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, Radiological risks, Statistical assessment. |
| Subjects: | Q Science > Q Science (General) Q Science > QC Physics |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Engineering, Science and Mathematics > School of Physics |
| Depositing User: | Mrs Hannah Akinwumi |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Mar 2019 10:21 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Mar 2019 10:21 |
| URI: | http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/12506 |
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