Gamma Ray Spectroscopy Analysis of Sediments of Coastal Areas in Ennore, Tamil Nadu

D Rajendiran; S Karthikayini; K Veeramuthu; N Harikrishnan

doi:10.17485/IJST/v17i8.2464

Article

Gamma Ray Spectroscopy Analysis of Sediments of Coastal Areas in Ennore, Tamil Nadu

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Indian Journal of Science and Technology

DOI: 10.17485/IJST/v17i8.2464

Year: 2024, Volume: 17, Issue: 8, Pages: 760-772

Original Article

Gamma Ray Spectroscopy Analysis of Sediments of Coastal Areas in Ennore, Tamil Nadu

D Rajendiran¹, S Karthikayini², K Veeramuthu^3*, N Harikrishnan⁴

¹PG and Research, Department of Physics, Shanmuga Industries Arts and Science College, Tiruvannamalai, 606603, Tamil Nadu, India
²Department of Physics, Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering (Autonomous), Kalavakkam, Chennai, 603110, Tamil Nadu, India
³PG and Research, Department of Physics, Thiru Kolanjiappar Government Arts College, Vridhachalam, 606001, Tamil Nadu, India
⁴Department of Physics, School of Arts and Science, Vinayaka Mission’s Research Foundation, Chennai Campus, Chennai, 603104, Tamil Nadu, India

*Corresponding Author
Email: [email protected]

Received Date:29 September 2023, Accepted Date:28 December 2023, Published Date:20 February 2024

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Objectives: This research focuses on the determination of the natural radionuclides radium, thorium, and potassium in the twenty-six sediment samples collected at the sea, beach, and creek regions of Ennore Port. Methods: The activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K were determined using gamma ray spectrometry with a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector. Findings: The average activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K were in the descending order of 40K (397.58 Bq kg-1) > 232Th (65.83 Bq kg-1) > 226Ra (18.28 Bq kg-1). The estimated average values of radiological parameters such as radium equivalent activity (143.04 Bq kg-1), absorbed dose rate (64.91 nGy h-1), annual effective dose equivalent (0.32 mSv y-1), and external hazard index (0.39) were lower than the respective world average values, reported by United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR, 2000). Moreover, the representative level index and annual gonadal dose equivalent were slightly higher than the world average value. Hence, this research proved that the study area is radiologically safe for humans and the environment. Novelty: A location and sample collection-based novelty is approached to carried out the work. Sea sediments were also collected along with samples from creek and beach regions in order to examine the dispersion of natural radionuclides from land to marine environments. The samples from the beach and creek regions were collected using a Peterson grab sampler. Especially in the sea region, the samples were collected using a Van Veen grab sampler at a depth of 4 m and a distance of 10 m parallel to the shoreline.

Keywords: Natural radioactivity, Sediment, Ennore, Gamma ray spectrometry, HPGe detector, Radiological parameters

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© 2024 Rajendiran et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Published By Indian Society for Education and Environment (iSee)