Radioactive risk assessment of beach sand along the coastline of Mediterranean Sea at El-Arish area, North Sinai, Egypt

Beach sand includes various levels of natural radioactivity, which can cause health effects. The natural radioactivity was measured in the beach sand along the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea at the east of the El-Arish area, Egypt. Using the HPGe spectrometer, the contribution of radionuclides Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 in the gamma emitted radiation illustrated that the Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 activity concentrations are 8.8 +/- 3.9, 30.8 +/- 12.2 and 106.9 +/- 46.8 Bq kg(-1), respectively, which is lower than the reported worldwide limit 33, 45 and 412 Bq kg(-1). The radioactive hazards associated with the beach sand along the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea at the east of the El-Arish area were investigated. The obtained results among the radiological hazard parameters, the radium equivalent content (Ra-eq), the absorbed dose rate (D-air), annual effective dose (AED), external (H-ex) and internal (H-in) hazard indices were estimated. Moreover, the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) and the annual gonadal dose equivalent (AGDE) were also computed and illustrated their values less than the recommended levels. Multivariate statistical approaches like Pearson correlation, the principal component analysis (PCA) and the hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were applied to investigate the correlation between the radionuclides and the corresponding radiological hazard variables. Based on the statistical analysis, the Ra-226 and Th-232 mainly contribute to the radioactive risk of beach sand. Finally, no significant risk of the public associated with utilizing beach sand in building materials.

Automated summary

Beach sand along the Mediterranean Sea east of El-Arish, Egypt, contains natural radioactivity with activity concentrations below worldwide limits. Radium-226 and Thorium-232 are the main contributors to the radioactive risk of beach sand. The use of beach sand in building materials does not pose a significant risk to the public.