Measurements of Background Ionizing Radiation Levels in Selected Farms in Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria
Keywords:
Background Exposure Rate, Ionizing, Radiation, Health Risk Parameters, FarmAbstract
Measurements of Background Ionizing radiation (BIR) levels were carried out in six farms with a calibrated Digilert-200 radiation meter positioned 1.0 m above the ground level. Geographical positioning system (GPS) was also used to find the coordinates of each studied farm. The measured overall average BIR exposure rate across the selected farms was 3.78 µR/h. Using radiological relations, the health risks parameters and the radiation effective doses to different organs/ tissues were determined as follow: Mean equivalent dose rate 0.03 µSv/h), Mean absorbed dose rate (33.09 nGy/h), mean annual effective dose equivalent (0.05 mSv/y), mean excess life cancer risk (0.14 × 10-3. These values were lower than the recommended permissible limits of 13 µR/h, 0.1µSv/h, 84.0 nGy/h, 1.0 mSv/y and 0.29 × 10-3 respectively as recommended by (International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and United Nations Scientific Committee on the effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCAER). Similarly, the effective dose delivered to different organs of the body within the recommended limits of 1.0 mSv/y. The results showed that the study area is safe from radiation exposure contamination.