International Journal of Applied Science and Engineering
Published by Chaoyang University of Technology

Onjefu Sylvanus Ameh1*, Hamukotoh Tuwilika2, Caspah Kamunda3, Abah James4, Hitila Markus1, and Jeya Kennedy1

1Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences, Namibia University of Science and Technology, 13 Jackson Kaujeua Street, P.B 13388, Windhoek, Namibia.

2Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia.

3Department of Physics, School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Copperbelt University, Kitwe Zambia.

4Department of Applied Educational Sciences, University of Namibia, Katima Mulilo Campus, Private Bag, 1096, Katima Mulilo, Namibia

 

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ABSTRACT

Radioactivity levels in salt pans from the Erongo region of Namibia have been investigated. Ten composite salt samples, collected from salt pans of the Walvis Bay lagoon were analyzed for activity concentrations of 2226Ra, 232Th and 40K. This was done using a high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer. The average activity concentrations in (Bq.kg-1) of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were found to be 2.17±0.19, 0.20±0.02 and 2.28±0.39, respectively. These activity concentrations were used to calculate the annual effective dose and radiological health risk from the ingestion of salt for the different age groups. The average annual effective dose in (μSv/yr) for the age ranges (2-7 years), (7-12 years), (12-17 years) and ≥ 17 years were found to be 2.67±0.22, 3.33±0.28, 6.08±0.53 and 1.22±0.10, respectively. All these were lower than the worldwide average of 0.29 mSv/yr as reported by UNSCEAR in 2000. The total average radiological risk (unitless x 10-8) for the age ranges (2-7 years), (7-12 years), (12-17 years) and ≥ 17 years were found to be 30.15±2.48, 60.30±4.96, 89.8±7.44 and 422.09±34.75, respectively. All these were lower than the recommended limit of between 1x10-6 to 1x10-4 as reported by USEPA in 1991. Therefore, the results from this study indicated that the salt samples do not pose a radiological risk to members of the public.


Keywords: Radiological risk, Salt, Effective dose, Average daily Intake, Erongo region.


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ARTICLE INFORMATION

Received: 2021-02-16
Revised: 2022-01-10
Accepted: 2022-01-19
Available Online: 2022-03-01


Cite this article:

Ameh, O.S., Hamukotoh Tuwilika, Caspah Kamunda, Abah James, Hitila Markus, Jeya Kennedy. 2022. Annual effective dose and radiological risk assessment from selected salt pans from the lagoon of Erongo region, Namibia. International Journal of Applied Science and Engineering, 19, 2021067. https://doi.org/10.6703/IJASE.202112_19(1).009

  Copyright The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are cited.

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