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Investigation of Radioactivity Levels and Lead in Soil and Shore Sediment from Port Said, Egypt

Received: 22 March 2022     Accepted: 14 April 2022     Published: 22 April 2022
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Abstract

Soil is one of the foremost vital foundations of life for humans, animals, and plants, so the soil contamination by radionuclides is a dangerous threat of human health. This study investigated the 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K, 137Cs and pb to assess their risks in soil cover of Port Said governorate. So, 41 samples (29 soil samples and 12 shore sediment samples) were collected to cover the districts area, beaches and industrial areas in Port Said governorate. Activity concentrations of 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K and 137Cs were determined by Hyper-Pure Germanium detector, and their Pearson’s coefficient correlations were calculated and to assess the effects of radiation produced from these radionuclides, their hazards indices were estimated. Pb was determined using Ionized coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), Geo-accumulation index (I-geo) and Contamination Factor (CF) were calculated. The activity concentration of soil for 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K and 137Cs ranged from 2.78 to 26.88, BDL to 19.69, BDL to 382.34 and BDL to 1.14 Bq/Kg with average values 11.59, 7.53, 218.77 and 0.25 Bq/Kg respectively. The activity concentrations of shore sediment for 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K and 137Cs ranged from 5.48 to 15.17, BDL to 11.75, BDL to 448.48 and BDL to 1.14 Bq/Kg with average values 10.16, 6.91, 364.23 and 0.38 Bq/Kg respectively. The highest activity concentrations and values of hazard indices are around the industrial facilities in both cases of soil and shore sediment samples as a result of contamination from factories. But the average activity concentration of 226Ra, 228Ra, and 40K in the soil and shore sediment samples are still lower than the worldwide activity concentrations average values and the Egyptian activity concentrations mean values. Also, all values of hazard indices and their average values are below recommended values by UNSCEAR 2000. Geo-accumulation Index (I-geo) and Contamination Factor (CF) for Pb indicated that more than 2 thirds of soil and 80% of shore sediment samples are moderately polluted or considerably contaminated by Pb. Pearson's Correlation indicated that pb from side and 226Ra, 228Ra and 40K from other side may be from different sources.

Published in Radiation Science and Technology (Volume 8, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.rst.20220801.12
Page(s) 5-21
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Natural Radioactivity, Hazard Indices, Lead, Geo-accumulation Index, Contamination Factor

References
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    Raghda Ahmed Eissa, Ashraf Ali Arafat, Abd Elnaser Ahmed Mansour, Mossad EL-Metwally. (2022). Investigation of Radioactivity Levels and Lead in Soil and Shore Sediment from Port Said, Egypt. Radiation Science and Technology, 8(1), 5-21. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.rst.20220801.12

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    Raghda Ahmed Eissa; Ashraf Ali Arafat; Abd Elnaser Ahmed Mansour; Mossad EL-Metwally. Investigation of Radioactivity Levels and Lead in Soil and Shore Sediment from Port Said, Egypt. Radiat. Sci. Technol. 2022, 8(1), 5-21. doi: 10.11648/j.rst.20220801.12

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    Raghda Ahmed Eissa, Ashraf Ali Arafat, Abd Elnaser Ahmed Mansour, Mossad EL-Metwally. Investigation of Radioactivity Levels and Lead in Soil and Shore Sediment from Port Said, Egypt. Radiat Sci Technol. 2022;8(1):5-21. doi: 10.11648/j.rst.20220801.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.rst.20220801.12,
      author = {Raghda Ahmed Eissa and Ashraf Ali Arafat and Abd Elnaser Ahmed Mansour and Mossad EL-Metwally},
      title = {Investigation of Radioactivity Levels and Lead in Soil and Shore Sediment from Port Said, Egypt},
      journal = {Radiation Science and Technology},
      volume = {8},
      number = {1},
      pages = {5-21},
      doi = {10.11648/j.rst.20220801.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.rst.20220801.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.rst.20220801.12},
      abstract = {Soil is one of the foremost vital foundations of life for humans, animals, and plants, so the soil contamination by radionuclides is a dangerous threat of human health. This study investigated the 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K, 137Cs and pb to assess their risks in soil cover of Port Said governorate. So, 41 samples (29 soil samples and 12 shore sediment samples) were collected to cover the districts area, beaches and industrial areas in Port Said governorate. Activity concentrations of 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K and 137Cs were determined by Hyper-Pure Germanium detector, and their Pearson’s coefficient correlations were calculated and to assess the effects of radiation produced from these radionuclides, their hazards indices were estimated. Pb was determined using Ionized coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), Geo-accumulation index (I-geo) and Contamination Factor (CF) were calculated. The activity concentration of soil for 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K and 137Cs ranged from 2.78 to 26.88, BDL to 19.69, BDL to 382.34 and BDL to 1.14 Bq/Kg with average values 11.59, 7.53, 218.77 and 0.25 Bq/Kg respectively. The activity concentrations of shore sediment for 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K and 137Cs ranged from 5.48 to 15.17, BDL to 11.75, BDL to 448.48 and BDL to 1.14 Bq/Kg with average values 10.16, 6.91, 364.23 and 0.38 Bq/Kg respectively. The highest activity concentrations and values of hazard indices are around the industrial facilities in both cases of soil and shore sediment samples as a result of contamination from factories. But the average activity concentration of 226Ra, 228Ra, and 40K in the soil and shore sediment samples are still lower than the worldwide activity concentrations average values and the Egyptian activity concentrations mean values. Also, all values of hazard indices and their average values are below recommended values by UNSCEAR 2000. Geo-accumulation Index (I-geo) and Contamination Factor (CF) for Pb indicated that more than 2 thirds of soil and 80% of shore sediment samples are moderately polluted or considerably contaminated by Pb. Pearson's Correlation indicated that pb from side and 226Ra, 228Ra and 40K from other side may be from different sources.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Investigation of Radioactivity Levels and Lead in Soil and Shore Sediment from Port Said, Egypt
    AU  - Raghda Ahmed Eissa
    AU  - Ashraf Ali Arafat
    AU  - Abd Elnaser Ahmed Mansour
    AU  - Mossad EL-Metwally
    Y1  - 2022/04/22
    PY  - 2022
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.rst.20220801.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.rst.20220801.12
    T2  - Radiation Science and Technology
    JF  - Radiation Science and Technology
    JO  - Radiation Science and Technology
    SP  - 5
    EP  - 21
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-5943
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.rst.20220801.12
    AB  - Soil is one of the foremost vital foundations of life for humans, animals, and plants, so the soil contamination by radionuclides is a dangerous threat of human health. This study investigated the 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K, 137Cs and pb to assess their risks in soil cover of Port Said governorate. So, 41 samples (29 soil samples and 12 shore sediment samples) were collected to cover the districts area, beaches and industrial areas in Port Said governorate. Activity concentrations of 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K and 137Cs were determined by Hyper-Pure Germanium detector, and their Pearson’s coefficient correlations were calculated and to assess the effects of radiation produced from these radionuclides, their hazards indices were estimated. Pb was determined using Ionized coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), Geo-accumulation index (I-geo) and Contamination Factor (CF) were calculated. The activity concentration of soil for 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K and 137Cs ranged from 2.78 to 26.88, BDL to 19.69, BDL to 382.34 and BDL to 1.14 Bq/Kg with average values 11.59, 7.53, 218.77 and 0.25 Bq/Kg respectively. The activity concentrations of shore sediment for 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K and 137Cs ranged from 5.48 to 15.17, BDL to 11.75, BDL to 448.48 and BDL to 1.14 Bq/Kg with average values 10.16, 6.91, 364.23 and 0.38 Bq/Kg respectively. The highest activity concentrations and values of hazard indices are around the industrial facilities in both cases of soil and shore sediment samples as a result of contamination from factories. But the average activity concentration of 226Ra, 228Ra, and 40K in the soil and shore sediment samples are still lower than the worldwide activity concentrations average values and the Egyptian activity concentrations mean values. Also, all values of hazard indices and their average values are below recommended values by UNSCEAR 2000. Geo-accumulation Index (I-geo) and Contamination Factor (CF) for Pb indicated that more than 2 thirds of soil and 80% of shore sediment samples are moderately polluted or considerably contaminated by Pb. Pearson's Correlation indicated that pb from side and 226Ra, 228Ra and 40K from other side may be from different sources.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Physics and Mathematics Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Port Said, Port Said, Egypt

  • Nuclear and Radiological Safety Research Centre, Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo, Egypt

  • Physics and Mathematics Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Port Said, Port Said, Egypt

  • Physics Department, Faculty of Science, University of Port Said, Port Said, Egypt

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