Assessment of radionuclides in water, sediment and algae in river Benue at Jimeta - Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria

This work was carried out to assess the radioactivity levels in River Benue at Jimeta-Yola by means of a gamma ray spectrometry using sodium Iodide detector. The average values of activity concentration of 238U, 232Th and 40K were found to be 14.6±3.01Bq/kg, 47.0±4.03Bq/kg and 67l4.7±487.34Bq/kg in sediments; 33.22±13.44Bq/kg, 25.48±2.54Bq/kg and 11256.99±865.44Bq/kg in Algae; 7.85±1.66Bq/1 4.89±0.43Bq/l and 22.52±1.98Bq/l in water respectively. The average values of radium equivalent captivity were 11.12Bq/l for water, 927.33Bq/kg for Algae and 587.9Bq/kg for sediment. The average value of representative gamma index were 0.08 for water, 7.92 for Algae and 4.97 for sediments. The average values of annual gonadal equivalent dose were 35.47mSv/y in water, 3717.21mSv/y in Algae and 2316.19mSv/y in sediments. The average values of external hazard index were 0.03 for water, 2.5 for Algae and 1.59 for sediment. The average values of internal hazard index were 0.05 for water, 2.59 for Algae and 1.6 for sediment. The average values of absorbed dose rate were 5.13nGy/h in water, 496.31nGy/h for Algae and 310.08nGy/h for sediment. The average values of excess lifetime cancer risk were 0.02 x 10^-3 for water, 2.13x10^-3 for Algae and 1.33x10^-3 for sediments. The average values of annual effective dose equivalent (outdoor) were 6.29uSV/y for water, 608.67u.Sv/y for Algae and 380.29uSv/y for sediment. The average values of annual effective dose equivalent (indoor) were 25.17uSv/y for water, 2434.67uSv/y for Algae 1521.14uSv/y for sediment. The evaluation of radiation parameters has shown that, continuous usage of these samples will endanger the lives of humans by exposing them to various types of ailments.