Evaluation and mapping of radionuclides in the terrestrial environment and health hazard due to soil radioactivity in Artvin, Turkey

In this study, the radiological characterization of top soil in the Artvin region, the assessment of relevant health risks, and obtaining the distribution of radiological parameters in soil of the region by means of the geostatistical method were aimed. Mean concentration values of Ra-226, Th-232, K-40, and Cs-137 radionuclides in 117 soil samples were determined by gamma spectrometric analysis as 42.26, 27.57, 390.42, and 14.87Bq/kg, respectively. According to the results obtained, the radium equivalent activity (Ra-eq), the internal radiation hazard (H-in), the external radiation hazard (H-ex), and the gamma representative level (I-r) were found to be 111.75Bq/kg, 0.41, 0.30, and 0.81, respectively, for the region. In addition, mean absorbed dose rate, annual effective dose equivalent, and excessive lifetime cancer risk values were calculated as 54.79nGy/h, 0.067mSv/year, and 0.00023, respectively, for the province. In addition, it was determined that all radiological parameters obtained for the region were lower than the worldwide averages. Finally, in order to estimate the activity for unsampled points and to determine the radiation distribution, the interpolations for each radionuclide were done through ordinary kriging method; the spatial distribution maps were created using these estimations, and it was seen that the distribution of the radionuclides around the region was quite compatible with both the calculated dose rates and cancer risk distribution in the region.