Radioactive and Chemical Pollution Evaluation in Coastal Sea Sediments

Abstract

In this article, coastal sea sediments from three different selected sites of Reggio Calabria and Vibo Valentia districts, Calabria region, Southern Italy, were picked up to quantify natural and anthropogenic radioactivity content and metal concentrations. The aim was to assess any possible radiological health hazard for human beings due to external exposure to gamma rays, as well as the level of pollution due to anthropic radionuclides and metals in the investigated area. To this purpose, High Purity Germanium (HPGe) gamma spectrometry was employed to quantify specific activities of 226Ra, 232Th, 40K, and 137Cs radioisotopes. The absorbed gamma dose rate in air (D), the annual effective dose equivalent (AEDE) outdoors, the external hazard index (Hex) and the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) were also estimated to assess any possible radiological health risk for the population, mainly due to the use of coastal sea sediments for the beach nourishment. Moreover, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) measurements were carried out for the quantitative elemental analysis of the samples, to assess any possible chemical pollution by metals, that could be released into the environment by both natural and anthropogenic sources, through a comparison with the limits set by the Italian Legislation. Finally, the results reported in this paper can be used as a baseline for future investigations concerning a more complete mapping of the radioactivity levels in coastal sea sediments.