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


 

Download Citation: |
Download PDF


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.


Share this article with your colleagues

 


REFERENCES


  1. Busby, C. 2010. ECRR Uranium and health: The health effects of exposure to uranium and uranium weapons fallout. Documents of the ECRR 2010 No 2, European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR), Brussels.

  2. Calin. M.R., Radulescu, I., Ion, A.C., Capra, L., Almasan, E.R. 2020. Investigations on chemical composition and natural radioactivity levels from salt water and peloid used in pelotherapy from the Techirghiol Lake, Romania. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 42, 513–529. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-019-00382-8

  3. Caridi, F., Marguccio, S., D’Agostino, M., Belvedere, A., Belmusto, G. 2016. Natural radioactivity and metal contamination of river sediments in the Calabria region, south of Italy. European Physical Journal Plus, 131, 155. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2016-16155-x

  4. El-Bahi, S.M. 2003. Radioactivity levels of salt for natural sediments in the northwestern desert and local markets in Egypt. Applied Radiation and Isotope, 58 (1), 143-148.

  5. El-Taher, A. 2010. INAA and DNAA for uranium determination in geological sample from Egypt, Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 68, 1189–1192.

  6. Faisal, B.M.R., Majumder, R.K., Uddin, M.J., Deeba, F., Paul, D., Haydar, M.A., Ali, M.I. 2015. Assessment of heavy metals pollution and natural radioactivity in topsoil of Savar industrial area, Bangladesh. International Journal of Environmental Science, 5, 964-979.

  7. Folkner, W.M., William, J.G. 2008. Mass parameters and uncertainties in planetary ephemeris DE421.” interoffice memo. 343R-08-004 (internal document), Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.

  8. Harikrishnan, N., Ravisankar, R., Chandrasekaran, A., Gandhi, M.S., Vijayagopal, R.M. 2018. Assessment of gamma radiation and associated radiation hazards in coastal sediments of south east coast of Tamilnadu, India with statistical approach. Ecotoxicology and Environmental safety 162, 521-528.

  9. ICRP, 2012. Compendium of dose coefficients based on ICRP Publication 60. ICRP Publication 119. Ann. ICRP 41(Suppl.).

  10. Innocent, A. J., Onimisi, M. Y., Jonah, S. A. 2013. Evaluation of naturally occurring radionuclide materials in soil samples collected from some mining sites in Zamfara State, Nigeria. British Journal of Applied Science and Technology, 3, 684–692.

  11. Kansaana, C., Darko, E.O., Schandorf, C., Adukpo, O.K., Faanu, A., Lawluvi, H., Kpeglo, D.O. 2012. Determination of Natural Radioactivity in Saline Water and Salt from Panbros Salt Industry Limited in the Accra Metropolis, Ghana.  International Journal of Science and Technology, 2, 107–111.

  12. Lin, W., Chen, L., Yu, W., Ma, H., Zeng, Z., Lin, J., Zeng, S. 2015. Radioactivity impacts of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident on the atmosphere. Atmospheric Environment, 102, 311-322.

  13. NCRP. 1987. Ionizing radiation exposure of the population of the United States, NCRP Report No. 93 (National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement, Washington DC.)

  14. NCRP. 1975. National Background Radiation in the United States, NCRP Report No. 45, National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement, Bethesda, Md, USA.

  15. Onjefu, S.A, Kgabi, N.A., Taole, S.H, Grant, C., Antoine, J. 2017. Assessment of natural radionuclide distribution in shore sediment samples collected from the north dune beach, Henties Bay, Namibia. Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences, 10, 301-306.

  16. Onjefu, S.A., Hitila, M., Katangolo, H., Zivuku, M., Abah, J., Mutorwa, M.K. 2020. Measurement of natural radioactivity concentration in various types of rice consumed in Windhoek, Namibia. Nigerian Journal of Physics, 28(2), 124-128.

  17. Oyedele, J. A., Shimboyo, S., Sitoka, S., & Gaoseb, F. 2010. Assessment of natural radioactivity in the soils of Rössing Uranium Mine and its satellite town in western Namibia, southern Africa. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 619, 467–469. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2010.01.068

  18. Paschoa, A.S. and Steinhausler, F. 2010. Terrestrial, atmospheric and aquatic natural radioactivity. Radioactivity in the Environment, 17, 29–85.

  19. Poltabtim, W., Saenboonruang, K. 2019. Assessment of activity concentrations and their associated radiological health risks in commercial infant formulas in Thailand.  Chiang Mai Journal of Science, 46(4), 778-786.

  20. Ravisankar, R., Rajalakshmi1, A., Eswaran, P., Gajendiran, V., Meenakshisundram, V. 2007. Radioactivity levels in soil of salt field area, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India. Nuclear Science and Techniques, 18(6), 372-375.

  21. Reda, E., Mohammed, A.A.O., El-Montaser, M.S., Atef, E. 2018. Natural radioactivity levels and radiological hazards in soil samples around Abu Kargas sugar factory. Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 11, 28-38.

  22. Sahin Bal, S. 2018. The determination of concentrations of radioisotopes in some granite samples in turkey and their radiation hazards. Radiation Effects and Defects in Solids, 173(5-6), 353-366. https://doi.org/10.1080/10420150.2018.1462358

  23. Shabaan, D.H. 2018. Radioactivity measurements of different types of salt using SSNTD.  AIP Conference Proceedings 1976, 020023 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5042390

  24. Tahir, S.N.A, Alaamer, A.S. 2008. Determination of natural radioactivity in rock salt and radiation doses due to its ingestion. Journal of Radiological Protection, 28(2), 233-236.

  25. Turekian, K.K. 1970. Abundance of Th and U in earth crust in McGraw-Hill Encyclopeia of Science and Technology, 4, 627.

  26. UNSCEAR. 2000. Sources and effects of ionizing radiation. Report to the General Assembly with Scientific Annexes. New York: United Nations.

  27. UNSCEAR. 2008. Sources and effects of ionizing radiation. Report to the General Assembly with Scientific Annexes C, D and E-Effects.  New York: United Nations.

  28. USEPA. 1991. Role of the Baseline Risk Assessment in Superfund Remedy Selection Decisions (Memorandum from D. R. Clay, OSWER 9355.0–30, April 1991). Washington DC: US Environmental Protection Agency.

  29. Uwatse, O.B., Olatunji, M.A., Khandaker, M.U., Amin, Y.M., Bradley, D.A., Alkhorayef, M., K. Alzimami, K., 2015. Measurement of natural and artificial radioactivity in infant powdered milk and estimation of the corresponding annual effective dose. Environmental Engineering Science 32. 838-846. https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2015.0114

  30. Vive I Batlle, J., Aoyama, M., Bradshaw, C., Brown, J., Buesseler, K.O., Casacuberta, N., Christl, M., Duffa, C., Impens, N.R.E.N., Iosjpe, M., Masque, P., Nishikawa, J., 2018. Marine radioecology after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident: are we better positioned to understand the impact of radionuclides in marine ecosystems? Science Total Environment, 618, 80-92.

  31. WHO. 2012. Guideline: Sodium intake for adults and children. Geneva, World Health Organization.

  32. William, F.R., Steck, D.J., Smith, J., Brus, C.P., Fisher, L., Neuberser, J.S., Platz, C.P., Robinson, R.A., Woolson, R.F., and Lynch, C.F., 2000. Residential radon gas exposure and lung cancer. American Journal of Epidemiology, 151(11), 1091-102. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a010153

  33. Xinming L., Wuhui L., 2018. Natural radioactivity in the beach sand and soil along the coastline of Guangxi Province, China. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 135, 446-450.

  34. Zivuku M., Kgabi N.N., Tshivhase V.M. 2018. Excess lifetime cancer risk due to natural radioactivity in soils: case study of Karibib Town in Namibia. African Review of Physics 13: 0012, 71.


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.