Population dose due to building materials in Ibadan, Nigeria.

The natural radionuclide contents of some concrete building blocks randomly sampled in the city of Ibadan have been determined using NaI(Tl) gamma ray spectrometry. The radionuclides 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were determined with city mean specific activities 47 +/- 21 Bq.kg-1, 52 +/- 21 Bq.kg-1, and 352 +/- 222 Bq.kg-1, respectively. These activities amount to a radium equivalent of about 150 Bq.kg-1, which is lower than the recommended maximum value of 370 Bq.kg-1. The mean value of the external hazard index was found to be 0.41 which implies that the building blocks used in the city of Ibadan are within the acceptable level of radioactivity. The mean indoor gamma dose equivalent to individuals due to the walls was calculated to be 412 microSv.y-1 and the collective dose equivalent 563 man.Sy.y-1.