A review of the occurrence of naturally occurring radioactive materials and radiological risk assessment in South African soils

ABSTRACT

According to reports, exposure to high concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive substances like Uranium-238, Thorium-232, and Potassium-40 poses serious health concerns. This review study aims to report the concentrations of radionuclides in various South African soil and their equivalent risk assessments, which have been sparingly reported. For South Africa, most radionuclide concentrations above the permissible limits of 33, 45, and 420 Bq.kg⁻¹ for ²³⁸U, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K, respectively, have been found in some soil samples taken near industrialization activities, including mining and oil exploration and production. Thus, the amount of radionuclides is a good indicator of the kind of soil, the local geology, and the mineral make-up of the parent rocks. The increases in radiation exposure to people and the environment have been reported to cause various radiological health hazards. Thus, this review study can be used as a data source to track probable radioactive contamination from soils found in South Africa.

KEYWORDS:

• Activity concentration
• radiation hazard
• radionuclides
• soils
• South Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The research was supported by a postdoctoral research scholarship of the College of Agriculture, Engineering, and Science at the University of KwaZulu Natal.