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. 2019 Jan 16;5(1):e01133.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e01133. eCollection 2019 Jan.

Gamma radiation and indoor radon concentrations in the western and southwestern regions of Saudi Arabia

Abdulrahman S Alghamdi  1 , Khalid A Aleissa  1 , Ibrahim F Al-Hamarneh  2   3
Affiliations

Gamma radiation and indoor radon concentrations in the western and southwestern regions of Saudi Arabia

Abdulrahman S Alghamdi et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

The exposure of the population to natural gamma radiation in air and to indoor radon gas was investigated in Makkah, AlBaha, Assir, Jazan and Najran regions in the western and southwestern of Saudi Arabia. The survey was performed by using LiF:Mg,Cu,P thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLDs) for indoor and outdoor absorbed dose rates in air measurements in 885 locations, and a passive integrating ionizing system, equipped with an E-Perm Electret ion chamber, for radon concentration measurements in a total of 1119 dwellings. The ambient indoor rates vary from 54 to 191 nSv h-1, while it is in the range of 42-112 nSv h-1 for the outdoor. The indoor and outdoor rates of the directional dose equivalent ranged from 56 to 185 nSv h-1 and from 43 to 135 nSv h-1, respectively. Makkah region showed the highest mean indoor ambient and directional rates, whereas Assir region showed the highest mean outdoor rates. The indoor and outdoor gamma dose rates were significantly correlated. On the other hand, the indoor radon concentrations ranged from 11 to 137 Bq m-3 with an overall mean of 32 Bq m-3 for all investigated houses. The overall annual mean effective dose rate from radon and its decay progenies was estimated to be 0.76 mSv y-1, which yields an excess lifetime cancer risk of around 2.3 × 10-3.

Keywords: Ecology; Environmental science.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Map of Saudi Arabia showing the five western and southwestern regions.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Box-plot for the indoor dose rates of (a) local ambient H*(10) and (b) directional H′(0.07) (in nSv h−1) for the five investigated regions. The box shows the median (long horizontal line) and values between the 25 and 75% percentiles. The short horizontal lines label the 10 and 90% percentiles, and stars mark the lowest and highest values.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Box-plot for the outdoor dose rates of (a) local ambient H*(10) and (b) directional H′(0.07) (in nSv h−1) for the five investigated regions. The box shows the median (long horizontal line) and values between the 25 and 75% percentiles. The short horizontal lines label the 10 and 90% percentiles, and stars mark the lowest and highest values.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Linear regression of the relationship between the (a) indoor, and (b) outdoor H*(10) and H′(0.07) dose rates for all investigated TLDs.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Linear regression of the indoor-to-outdoor H*(10) and H′(0.07) gamma dose rates for all investigated regions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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