MEASUREMENT OF NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY OF SOIL SAMPLES COLLECTED FROM GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS OF DISTRICTS QASSIM, BABYLON, IRAQ

In the present study, soil samples from depth 5 to 40 cm were collected from different localities of the government departments of districts Qassim Babylon, Iraq. The activity concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive materials, namely 238U, 232Th and 40K were measured for 28 soil samples using gamma-ray spectroscopy. The results showed, the average of 238U, 232Th and 40K activity concentrations were found 15 ± 0.691, 45.46 ± 1.8265 and 277.685 ± 2 Bq kg-1 respectively. The average value of radium equivalent activity was found 102.239 Bq kg-1, which is lower than the safe limit 370 Bq kg-1 as set by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The annual effective dose equivalent, absorbed dose, internal hazard index and external hazard index were determined to have average values of 0.0578 mSv y-1, 47.1325 nGy h-1, 0.2756 and 0.3189 respectively. The results were lower than the average national (UNSCEAR, 2000) and thus, do not pose health risks to population of the area.