Natural radioactivity measurements of building materials in Baotou, China

Natural radioactivity due to Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 in the common building materials collected from Baotou city of Inner Mongolia, China was measured using gamma-ray spectrometry. The radiation hazard of the studied building materials was estimated by the radium equivalent activity (Ra-eq), internal hazard index (H-in) and annual effective dose (AED). The concentrations of the natural radionuclides and Ra-eq in the studied samples were compared with the corresponding results of other countries. The Ra-eq values of the building materials are below the internationally accepted values (370 Bq kg(1)). The values of H-in in all studied building materials are less than unity. The AEDs of all measured building materials are at an acceptable level.