Sand is an important natural material for the construction of houses, work buildings and other public spaces. This work, which is one of the first contributions to the environmental quality of construction materials, ...Sand is an important natural material for the construction of houses, work buildings and other public spaces. This work, which is one of the first contributions to the environmental quality of construction materials, concerns the measurement of natural radioactivity in the lagoon sands collected in the district of Abidjan. Nineteen (19) samples of these sands are analyzed by gamma-ray spectrometry equipped with HPGe detector. The mean values obtained for <sup>226</sup>Ra, <sup>232</sup>Th and <sup>40</sup>K are respectively 7.76 ± 1.84 Bq·kg<sup>-1</sup>, 5.21 ± 1.36 Bq·kg<sup>-1</sup>, and 217.31 ± 5.03 Bq·kg<sup>-1</sup>. The estimated average value of radium equivalent (Raeq) is 31.94 Bq·kg-1. The results show that the average values obtained are far lower than the global limits of 35, 30, and 400 Bq·kg<sup>-1</sup> for the concentrations of <sup>226</sup>Ra, <sup>232</sup>Th and <sup>40</sup>K, respectively, and 370 Bq·kg<sup>-1 </sup>for the equivalent radium established by the United Nations Scienti<span style="white-space:nowrap;">fi</span>c Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). Therefore, the use of the analyzed lagoon sand samples in the different construction sectors should not cause serious radiological effects on the populations living in the District of Abidjan. Our results provide new data on building materials radioactivity in C<span style="white-space:nowrap;">ô</span>te d’Ivoire and all over the World. They can also be used as a reference for future work.展开更多
文摘Sand is an important natural material for the construction of houses, work buildings and other public spaces. This work, which is one of the first contributions to the environmental quality of construction materials, concerns the measurement of natural radioactivity in the lagoon sands collected in the district of Abidjan. Nineteen (19) samples of these sands are analyzed by gamma-ray spectrometry equipped with HPGe detector. The mean values obtained for <sup>226</sup>Ra, <sup>232</sup>Th and <sup>40</sup>K are respectively 7.76 ± 1.84 Bq·kg<sup>-1</sup>, 5.21 ± 1.36 Bq·kg<sup>-1</sup>, and 217.31 ± 5.03 Bq·kg<sup>-1</sup>. The estimated average value of radium equivalent (Raeq) is 31.94 Bq·kg-1. The results show that the average values obtained are far lower than the global limits of 35, 30, and 400 Bq·kg<sup>-1</sup> for the concentrations of <sup>226</sup>Ra, <sup>232</sup>Th and <sup>40</sup>K, respectively, and 370 Bq·kg<sup>-1 </sup>for the equivalent radium established by the United Nations Scienti<span style="white-space:nowrap;">fi</span>c Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). Therefore, the use of the analyzed lagoon sand samples in the different construction sectors should not cause serious radiological effects on the populations living in the District of Abidjan. Our results provide new data on building materials radioactivity in C<span style="white-space:nowrap;">ô</span>te d’Ivoire and all over the World. They can also be used as a reference for future work.
