INVESTIGATION OF DRILLERS’ EXPOSURE TO NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY AND ITS RADIOLOGICAL RISKS IN LOW LATITUDE REGION USING NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS

Omeje, Maxwell and Adagunodo, T. A. and Akinwumi, S. A. and Adewoyin, O.O and Joel, E. S. and Husin, Wagiran and MOHD, Suhaimi Hamzah (2019) INVESTIGATION OF DRILLERS’ EXPOSURE TO NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY AND ITS RADIOLOGICAL RISKS IN LOW LATITUDE REGION USING NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology , 10 (1). pp. 1897-1920. ISSN 0976-6359

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Abstract

Radiation originates from anthropogenic, primordial, and cosmogenic sources. The impact of radiation through anthropogenic and cosmogenic sources is negligible to the environment while the primordial radioactivity is widely distributed in the earth and its environs. This radioactive material and its Byproducts are found mainly in diverse geological formations around us. Inadequate access to public water supply in Abuja has forced more than 80 percent of the population of about 5 million to drill private boreholes. Nigerian drillers are unaware of high concentrations of radioactivity present in granitic rocks which vary with depth. The radioactivity of 226Ra as well as 232Th decay chains for the lithological rock samples could be at equilibrium considering the age as well as the isotopic mass proportion which is assumed to be equal to its natural isotope. Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) is adopted for this study with the aim of minimizing sample size as well as less counting rate in order to estimate the radioactivity concentration in rock samples. Two boreholes are drilled in Abuja in order to randomly collect the rock samples from three different layers of each site. All the samples were duplicated for each radio nuclide examination, resulting to twelve samples in all. The results showed that the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in the two sites were in the order 232Th > 226Ra > 40K. 226Ra and 232Th possess activity concentration greater than the world’s average while 40K activity is less than the world’s average. The radiological risks estimated showed that more than half of the parameters used nearly exhibited greater values than the global average values. It is, therefore, concluded that Abuja is underlain by rocks of low potassic value. If the drillers do not take caution about the geologic formation of the subsurface and apply necessary precautions before the commencement of any borehole drilling, over – exposure to these -radiation may pose unquantifiable health risks to them

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Drillers, Boreholes, Granitic rocks, Natural radioactivity, Radiological risks, Neutron Activation Analysis, Abuja.
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:	15 Jul 2019 10:06
Last Modified:	15 Jul 2019 10:06
URI:	http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/12815

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