Radiometric assessment of soil collected from apple orchards in Pishin, Balochistan and associated health hazards.

Abstract

Farmers and residents of homes built with soil bricks may be impacted by naturally occurring radionuclides in farmed soil. Using high purity germanium (HPGe) and sodium iodide (NaI) detectors, soil samples from apple orchards in Pishin have been examined to look into radioactive materials and related health impacts. The average values of ²²⁶Ra were 22.71 and 15.19 Bq kg^-1, respectively, while those of ²³²Th were 29.84 and 14.62 Bq kg^-1, respectively. The values of ⁴⁰K were 329.48 and 113.08 Bq kg^-1 using HPGe and NaI detectors, respectively. It was discovered that each of these values was below the 35, 45, and 420 Bq kg^-1 permissible limits. Positive correlations (R² = 0.912 for ²²⁶Ra), (R² = 0.9148 for ²³²Th) and (R² = 0.9026 for ⁴⁰K) were found among the results obtained from HPGe and NaI detectors. The average radium equivalent activity (Ra_eq) values obtained from both methods were 90.77 and 44.81 Bq kg^-1, respectively, which were lower than the world average. The average results for outdoor and indoor absorbed doses and outdoor and indoor annual effective doses from the HPGe and NaI detectors were also found to be within the respective permissible limits. It was discovered that the alpha (Iα) and gamma (Iγ) indices were below the limit. Thus, it is determined that farmers and residents of homes constructed with soil bricks are not at risk for any health problems from the soil in the studied region.