Spatial radionuclide distribution, mineralogy, and radiological evaluation of the Jeddah shoreline sediments, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia

Despite hazards of pollution and radiation, the Red Sea is essential for industries involved in tourism and energy development. This research aims to assess the levels of radiation in samples taken from the Jeddah district of the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, along the north, center, and southern portions of the Jeddah shoreline. The mean quantities of 232Th, 40 K, and 226Ra in shoreline sediments are 5.05 ± 2, 139.09 ± 74.08, and 13.14 ± 3.95 Bq/kg, respectively, according to results from NaI detectors. These amounts fall within the widely recognized international reporting requirements. Among the three portions of Jeddah coastline, the northern sector has the highest obtained activity concentrations of 40 K (av. 242.05 Bq/kg), 232Th (av. 6.06 Bq/kg), 226Ra (av. 17.24 Bq/kg), and their summation (av. 265.36 Bq/kg) relative to the central and southern sectors. The average worldwide concentration of 420 Bq/kg for the Jeddah coastline samples under examination is higher than the average of 157.528 ± 77.11 Bq/kg for 40 K + 232Th + 226Ra, which was between 41.07 and 346.42 Bq/kg. Numerous radiological factors, such as excess life-time cancer, absorbed dose rate and annualized dosage, radium equivalent, exposure to human organs, and various other parameters (e.g. Hα, Hex, Hγ, and Hin), were established for these sediments in relation to these activities. These metrics’ values are below the average value for the world, indicating that the natural gamma radiation that is released has a negligible effect. The primary segregated heavy minerals are hematite, zircon, and pyrite.