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Radioactivity concentrations in common brands of cement in Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2006

I. P. Farai  and
J. E. Ejeh
I. P. Farai
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
J. E. Ejeh
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
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Abstract

Radioactivity concentrations of 238U, 232Th and 40K in common brands of Portland cement in Nigeria have been measured using a shielded 7.6 cm × 7.6 cm NaI(Tl) detector coupled to a Canberra series 10 plus multichannel analyzer. The cement samples show significant spread in their radioactivity concentrations, even among samples of the same brand. The weighted means of the activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th and 40K in the different brands were 52.4, 4.1 and 91.8 Bq/kg, respectively. The radium equivalent ranged between 29.1 and 128.1 Bq/kg with a weighted mean value of 68.5 Bq/kg. The values are lower than corresponding values in cement samples in most other countries as contained in recent publications. They are also lower than the UNSCEAR recommended maximum of 370 Bq/kg. The safety criteria developed by ITB Poland for radioactivity in building materials, especially for radon build-up in homes were however, exceeded in some of the cement samples.

Keywords

cementNigeriagamma spectroscopyradioactivity concentrationradiation exposure
Type
Research Article
Information
Radioprotection , Volume 41 , Issue 4 , October 2006 , pp. 455 - 462
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2006

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References

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