Activity concentration and annual effective dose estimation of ²¹⁰Pb, ⁴⁰K and ¹³⁷Cs in soils of southern Algeria

Sixteen soil samples with depth ranging from 0 to 2 cm were collected from the Sahara region near the locations where in the early 1960s France conducted a series of aboveground and underground nuclear tests in the south of Algeria. The ²¹⁰Pb activity concentration in soil samples ranged between 0.6 and 62 Bq kg⁻¹, the ⁴⁰K activity ranged between 77 and 300 Bq kg⁻¹, and the ¹³⁷Cs activity ranged between 0.2 and 4 Bq kg⁻¹. The annual effective dose of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁴⁰K was calculated between ~ 0.3 and 7.5 and ~ 34 and 136 µSv a⁻¹ with an average of 3.72 and 74.68 µSv a⁻¹, respectively. At some sampling points, the annual effective dose crosses the limit proposed by International Atomic Energy Agency and other international standards. To reduce the exposure of public to high level of dose in the area, some recommendations are proposed at the end of this study.