Measurements of natural radioactivity level in black sand and sediment samples of the Temsah Lake beach in Suez Canal region in Egypt

The level of natural radioactivity in 20 black sand and 20 sediment samples collected from Temsah Lake beaches of Suez Canal district, Egypt was investigated. The gamma-ray spectrometry system with hyperpure germanium (HPGe) detector has been used to determined radioactivity concentrations. Mathematical model is used to estimate the activity concentrations of Rn-222 in the air with the activities of Ra-226. The activity concentrations of the sediment and black sand samples range from 4.29 +/- 1.66 to 30.06 +/- 8.80 and 4.29 +/- 0.68 to 18.52 +/- 5.22 Bq/kg) for Ra-226. The ranges of radioactivity concentration of Th-232 vary from 6.69 +/- 1.54 to 39.2 +/- 49.80 and 4.56 +/- 1.07 to 18.65 +/- 5.27 Bq/kg. The effective annual dose rate in the samples under study varies from 0.01 to 0.05 mSv/y for sediment samples and from 0.01 to 0.05 mSv/y for black sand samples. The concentrations of radon gas in the air were determined as well as the activity concentrations of Ra-226. Radon Rn-222 doses from gas inhalation for humans were estimated to be in the range of 0.13-13.09 mu sv/y for all samples. The activity concentrations of all samples, which were measured in the present work, were compared with the values in other countries in the world, and it was found they were within the permissible limits, which indicates that the study area was radiologically safe for humans. (C) 2017 The Egyptian Society of Radiation Sciences and Applications. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.