Radon Emanation from Soil and Groundwater and Surface Gamma Dose Rate in Budhakedar,Garhwal Himalayas,India

Abstract

Radon was measured in soil-gas and groundwater in the Budhakedar area of Tehri Garhwal, India and related to the gamma dose rate in the same area. A laboratory experiment was also performed to measure the radon exhalation rate from soil samples collected from the same area. Radon exhalation rate from collected soil samples was found to vary from 0.1×10^-5 Bq·kg^-1·h^-1 to 5.7×10^-5 Bq·kg^-1·h^-1 with an average of 1.5×10^-5 Bq·kg^-1·h^-1. Radon concentration in soil and groundwater of the Budhakedar area varies from 1098 to 31,776Bq·m^-3 with an average value of 7456Bq·m^-3, and from 8 to 3047Bq·L^-1 with an average value 510Bq·L^-1, respectively. Surface gamma dose rate in the study area varied from 32.4 to 83.6μR·h^-1 with an overall mean of 58.7μR·h^-1. The observed value of the gamma dose rate was not found to be related to the value of radon concentration in ground-water but a weak positive correlation was observed between the gamma dose rate and soil-gas radon concentration. A weak negative correlation was observed between radon exhalation rate from soil and radon concentration in the soil. Radon exhalation rate from the soil was also not found to be correlated with the gamma dose rate, while it shows a positive correlation with radon concentration in water.

Keywords

Radon Gamma dose rate Exhalation rate Soil Groundwater

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Choubey VM , Bartarya SK , Saini NK , Ramola RC : Impact of geohydrology and neotectonic activity on radon concentration in groundwater of intermontane Doon Valley, Outer Himalaya, India : Environ Geol 2000;40: 257-266 .

Dillon ME , Carter LG , Arora R , Kahn B : Radon concentration in groundwater of the Georgia Piedmont : Health Phys 1991; 60: 229-236 .

Nero AV : Radon and its Decay Products in Indoor Air: An Overview; in Nazaroff WW , Nero AV (eds): Radon and its Decay Products in Indoor Air, Wiley and Sons, New York , 1988, pp. 1-53.

Ramola RC , Choubey VM , Saini NK , Bartarya SK : Occurrence of radon in the drinking water of Dehradun city, India : Indoor Built Environ 1999;8: 67-70 .

ICRP : Protection against Radon-222 at Home and at Work, Oxford, ICRP Publications 65, Pergamon Press , 1993.

Ramola RC , Kandari MS , Rawat RBS : Assessment of health risk due to exposure of radon and its daughter products in the lower atmosphere : Current Sci 1997;73: 771-774 .

Samuelsson C , Johansson J : Long-lived radon decay products as a long-term radon exposure indicator : Radiat Prot Dosim 1994;56: 123-126 .

Solomon SB : A radon progeny sampler for the determination of effective dose : Radiat Prot Dosim 1997;72: 31-42 .

McLaughlin JP : Population doses in Ireland; in Hopke PK (ed.): Radon and Its Decay Products. Occurrence, Properties, and Health Effects, ACS Symposium Series 331, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC , 1987, p. 113-113.

10.

Ramola RC , Rawat RBS , Kandari MS : Estimation of risk from environmental exposure to radon in Tehri Garhwal : Nucl Geophys 1995;9: 383-386 .

11.

Langroo MK, Wise , Duggleby KN , Kotler LH : A nationwide survey of 222Rn and -radiation levels in Australian homes : Health Phys 1991;61: 753-761 .

12.

Harley NH , Chittaporn P , Roman MH , Sylvester J : Personal and home 222Rn and ray exposure measured in 52 dwellings : Health Phys 1991;61: 737-744 .

13.

Ramola RC , Negi MS : Natural radiation level in the environment of Tehri Garhwal, Uttaranchal : Int J Environ Pollution 2004; 22: 628-633 .

14.

UNSCEAR : Sources, effects and risk of ionizing radiation. United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. Report to General Assembly with annexes. United Nations Sales Publications, United Nations New York , 1988.

15.

UNSCEAR : Sources and effects of ionizing radiation. United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. Report to General Assembly with annexes. United Nations Sales Publications, United Nations New York , 2000.

16.

Ramola RC , Kandari MS , Negi M , Choubey VM : A study of diurnal variation of indoor radon concentrations : J Health Phys 2000;35: 211-216 .

17.

Ramola RC , Sandhu AS , Singh M , Singh S , Virk HS : Geochemical exploration of uranium using radon measurements techniques : Nucl Geophy 1989;3: 57-69 .

18.

Choubey VM , Ramachandran TV , Negi MS , Ramola RC : Calibration of radon emanometer : Ind J Environ Prot 2000;20: 329-331 .

19.

Ramola RC , Rawat RBS , Kandari MS , Ramachandran TV , Eappen KP , Subba Ramu MC : Calibration of LR-115 plastic track detectors for environmental radon measurements : Indoor Built Environ 1996;5: 364-366 .

20.

Ramola RC , Choubey VM : Measurement of radon exhalation rate from soil samples of Garhwal Himalaya : J Radioanal Nucl Chem 2003;256: 219-223 .

21.

Choubey VM , Ramola RC : Correlation between geology and radon levels in ground-water, soil and indoor air in Bhilangana Valley, Garhwal Himalaya, India : Environ Geol 1997;32: 258-262 .