Assessment of terrestrial radionuclides in the sandy soil from Guliakhali beach area of Chattogram, Bangladesh

A study was conducted to assess the concentrations of primordial radionuclides in fifteen sandy soil samples collected from a newly discovered Guliakhali sea beach in Bangladesh by HPGe gamma-ray spectrometry. The specific activity of soil samples varied from 25 +/- 3 to 130 +/- 11 Bqkg(-1), from 15 +/- 2 to 70 +/- 6 Bqkg(-1) and from 200 +/- 16 to 880 +/- 43 Bqkg(-1) for Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 respectively. Although a few samples showed comparatively higher radiation level and associated doses possibly because of the ship breaking industry located nearby, overall, most of the values of annual effective dose are less than the worldwide average value of 1 mSvy(-1).

Automated summary

A study conducted in Bangladesh found that most of the soil samples collected from the Guliakhali sea beach have concentrations of primordial radionuclides that result in annual effective doses lower than the worldwide average.