Assessment of natural and artificial radionuclides in Mission (Texas) surface soils

Residents in the city of Mission, Texas have been noted to complain of health related problems possibly associated with low dose radiation exposure. The purpose of this study was to quantify radioactivity levels in the entire Mission area by measuring natural and anthropogenic radionuclide concentrations (²²⁶Ra, ²²⁸Ra, ¹³⁷Cs) in 30 representative surface soil samples through high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy. The activity concentrations of these radionuclides followed an approximately normal distribution across the samples and were found to be comparable to other similar studies. In addition, radiological impact assessment factors were calculated and found to be within the recommended values. (author)