Review studies of the radioactivity of building materials

Abstract

: Different types of houses where we stayed are radioactive due to background radiation emitted from the earth's crust and houses making materials like cement, bricks, and sand. The human body gets maximum exposure to natural radiation (about 80%) indoors compare with outdoors. This background radiation dose depends on the types of houses and materials used. The level of natural radiation differs from place to place around the world as the concentration of materials in the earth’s crust varies. The main radionuclides in building materials are mainly from 238 U and 232 Th decay series and 40 K. The types of construction materials used in building houses can be affecting the dose rate of natural background radiations. The study of radioactivity in building materials is important to monitor the levels of radiation indoors to which human is exposed directly or indirectly. Several studies have been done very recently and different observations were reported. In this article, a review of studies of radioactivity in building materials was carried out.