Gamma radiation of the street corners from South zone of Natal city, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

This research had the objective of studying the absorbed dose of the street corner intersections from the South zone of Natal city, Brazil. This city grew up on dune lands, on siliciclastic rocks from Barreiras Formation, these dunes are quartz-sand and have heavy mineral layers bearing uranium and...

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Main Authors: Thomas Ferreira da Costa Campos, Kenji Freire Motoki, Valéria Fonsêca da Silva Pastura, Susanna Eleonora Sichel, Estefan Monteiro Fonseca
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Brazilian Radiation Protection Society (Sociedade Brasileira de Proteção Radiológica, SBPR) 2022-12-01
Series:Brazilian Journal of Radiation Sciences
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Online Access:https://bjrs.org.br/revista/index.php/REVISTA/article/view/2053
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author Thomas Ferreira da Costa Campos
Kenji Freire Motoki
Valéria Fonsêca da Silva Pastura
Susanna Eleonora Sichel
Estefan Monteiro Fonseca
author_facet Thomas Ferreira da Costa Campos
Kenji Freire Motoki
Valéria Fonsêca da Silva Pastura
Susanna Eleonora Sichel
Estefan Monteiro Fonseca
author_sort Thomas Ferreira da Costa Campos
collection DOAJ
description This research had the objective of studying the absorbed dose of the street corner intersections from the South zone of Natal city, Brazil. This city grew up on dune lands, on siliciclastic rocks from Barreiras Formation, these dunes are quartz-sand and have heavy mineral layers bearing uranium and thorium (monazite, xenothymeo, thorianite, ilmenite, rutile, zircon, magnetite and columbite-tantalite). Not all streets in Natal city have paving, in the part with more movement they have asphalt covering over cobblestone, in the less busy have cobblestone covering, and in the quiet streets are in natural dune sand. In situ Gamma radiation measurements were performed with three portable spectrometers model RS-230 with BGO crystal, about 1 meter above the ground. The absorbed dose ranged from 11 to 150 ƞGy/h (MG: 40; Median: 39; SD: 18). In gamma spectrometry measure, Uranium varied between 0.1 to 6.2 Eq.A. ppm (MG: 1.6; Median: 1.4; SD: 1), Thorium between 0.7 to 32 Eq.A. ppm (MG: 6; Median: 5; SD: 3.3), Potassium ranged between 0.1 to 3.9 Eq.A. % (MG: 1.2; Median: 1.2; SD: 0.7). The values ​​of the absorbed dose of external radiation measured in the studied street corners show values lower than the world average of 59 ƞGy/h, and annual effective dose is also lower than the global average value of 0.48 mSv/a. Areas with higher U-K contents correspond to areas with asphalt/cobblestone capping, while areas with higher Th contents correspond to sandy streets and dunes in protected areas. This fact denote a lower radiometric risk to the population.
format Article
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institution DOAJ
issn 2319-0612
language English
publishDate 2022-12-01
publisher Brazilian Radiation Protection Society (Sociedade Brasileira de Proteção Radiológica, SBPR)
record_format Article
series Brazilian Journal of Radiation Sciences
spelling doaj-art-27f8905cb2434b76a8742a2cc06bf98c2025-08-20T03:13:10ZengBrazilian Radiation Protection Society (Sociedade Brasileira de Proteção Radiológica, SBPR)Brazilian Journal of Radiation Sciences2319-06122022-12-0110412310.15392/2319-0612.2022.20531671Gamma radiation of the street corners from South zone of Natal city, Rio Grande do Norte, BrazilThomas Ferreira da Costa Campos0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5967-5622Kenji Freire Motoki1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1794-1304Valéria Fonsêca da Silva Pastura2Susanna Eleonora Sichel3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7152-8994Estefan Monteiro Fonseca4Federal University of Rio Grande do NorteFluminense Federal University, Nuclear Energy InstituteFluminense Federal University, Fluminense Federal University, This research had the objective of studying the absorbed dose of the street corner intersections from the South zone of Natal city, Brazil. This city grew up on dune lands, on siliciclastic rocks from Barreiras Formation, these dunes are quartz-sand and have heavy mineral layers bearing uranium and thorium (monazite, xenothymeo, thorianite, ilmenite, rutile, zircon, magnetite and columbite-tantalite). Not all streets in Natal city have paving, in the part with more movement they have asphalt covering over cobblestone, in the less busy have cobblestone covering, and in the quiet streets are in natural dune sand. In situ Gamma radiation measurements were performed with three portable spectrometers model RS-230 with BGO crystal, about 1 meter above the ground. The absorbed dose ranged from 11 to 150 ƞGy/h (MG: 40; Median: 39; SD: 18). In gamma spectrometry measure, Uranium varied between 0.1 to 6.2 Eq.A. ppm (MG: 1.6; Median: 1.4; SD: 1), Thorium between 0.7 to 32 Eq.A. ppm (MG: 6; Median: 5; SD: 3.3), Potassium ranged between 0.1 to 3.9 Eq.A. % (MG: 1.2; Median: 1.2; SD: 0.7). The values ​​of the absorbed dose of external radiation measured in the studied street corners show values lower than the world average of 59 ƞGy/h, and annual effective dose is also lower than the global average value of 0.48 mSv/a. Areas with higher U-K contents correspond to areas with asphalt/cobblestone capping, while areas with higher Th contents correspond to sandy streets and dunes in protected areas. This fact denote a lower radiometric risk to the population.https://bjrs.org.br/revista/index.php/REVISTA/article/view/2053natural radioactivityradiation hazardssand dunesnatal-brazil
spellingShingle Thomas Ferreira da Costa Campos
Kenji Freire Motoki
Valéria Fonsêca da Silva Pastura
Susanna Eleonora Sichel
Estefan Monteiro Fonseca
Gamma radiation of the street corners from South zone of Natal city, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Brazilian Journal of Radiation Sciences
natural radioactivity
radiation hazards
sand dunes
natal-brazil
title Gamma radiation of the street corners from South zone of Natal city, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
title_full Gamma radiation of the street corners from South zone of Natal city, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
title_fullStr Gamma radiation of the street corners from South zone of Natal city, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
title_full_unstemmed Gamma radiation of the street corners from South zone of Natal city, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
title_short Gamma radiation of the street corners from South zone of Natal city, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
title_sort gamma radiation of the street corners from south zone of natal city rio grande do norte brazil
topic natural radioactivity
radiation hazards
sand dunes
natal-brazil
url https://bjrs.org.br/revista/index.php/REVISTA/article/view/2053
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