High background radiation investigated by gamma spectrometry of the soil in the southwestern region of Cameroon.

The aim of this work is to determine the radioactivity concentration of (226)Ra, (232)Th and (40)K in sub-surface (0-5 cm) soil samples collected from Awanda, Bikoué, Ngombas in the southwestern region of Cameroon, to assess their contribution to the external dose exposure relative to the United Nation Scientific Committee on Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) data. An HPGe p-type detector coupled to a multichannel analyzer was used to perform measurements and data processing. The activity concentrations of (226)Ra varied from 0.06+/-0.01 to 0.27+/-0.02 kBq kg(-1) with a mean value of 0.13+/-0.01 kBq kg(-1) wet weight. The activity concentrations of (232)Th varied from 0.10+/-0.01 to 0.70+/-0.05 kBq kg(-1) with a mean value of 0.39+/-0.03 kBq kg(-1) wet weight, and (40)K concentrations varied from 0.37+/-0.02 to 1.53+/-0.11 kBq kg(-1) with a mean value of 0.85+/-0.07 kBq kg(-1) wet weight, respectively. The mean value of outdoor annual effective doses were estimated to be 0.48 mSv y(-1), 0.39 mSv y(-1) and 0.38 mSv y(-1) from Ngombas, Awanda and Bikoué, respectively. The studied areas can be said to have a high background radiation level. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.