Radiation hazards and health risk assessment from the exposure to terrestrial radionuclides in Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, India

This research summarizes the potential radiological risks posed by naturally occurring radionuclides and heavy metals in the soil samples of Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand (India) using NaI (Tl) based Gamma Beta spectrometer. The activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K in the studied area ranged from 12 ± 3 Bq kg^-1 to 29 ± 4 Bq kg^-1, 14 ± 7 Bq kg^-1 to 34 ± 7 Bq kg^-1 and 253 ± 48 Bq kg^-1 to 408 ± 61 Bq kg^-1 respectively. Radiological risk parameters, including radium equivalent (R_aEq), absorbed dose rate (AD), and annual effective dose (AED), were estimated for the health risk assessment. The absorbed dose rates for ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K in the study locations ranged from 5 nGy h^-1 to 13 nGy h^-1, 9 nGy h^-1 to 21 nGy h^-1 and 28 nGy h^-1 to 50 nGy h^-1, respectively. The annual effective doses were estimated to be 0.14 mSv y^-1 to 0.24 mSv y^-1 (indoor) and 0.03 mSvy^-1 to 0.06 mSv y^-1 (outdoor). (author)