Radionuclides Analysis of Some Soils and Food Crops in Barkin Ladi LGA ,Plateau State-Nigeria

Abstract

The investigation is aimed at establishing the activity concentrations in some farmland soils and crops across Barkin Ladi LGA. The activity concentrations of twenty (20) soil samples and twenty (20) food crop samples from the farmlands were determined using a multi-channel pulse-height analyzer (Camberra series 10 plus) coupled to a 76mm x 76mm NaI (Tl) scintillation detector. The activity concentration for ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th from the soil samples ranged from (144.30 ± 5.59) Bq/Kg to (282.58 ±4.82) Bq/Kg, (12.05 ± 9.73) Bq/Kg to (101.83 ± 1.85) Bq/Kg and (35.92 ± 1.71) Bq/Kg to (83.55± 3.62) Bq/Kg respectively. Hence the mean concentration obtained for each radionuclide is 218.93Bq/Kg for ⁴⁰K, 39.61Bq/Kg for ²²⁶Ra and 58.90 Bq/Kg for ²³²Th. This showed that these values are above the mean annual standards of 25 Bq/Kg and 25 Bq/Kg for ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th except for ⁴⁰K which is lower than the mean annual value of 370Bq/Kg. The activity concentrations measured from most of the soil suggest that crops grown on these farms exhibit similar measurement because most crops have high intake from their roots. The activity concentration for ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th in the crops ranged from (41.59 ± 0.67) Bq/Kg to (198.26 ± 7.46) Bq/Kg, (12.05 ± 9.73) Bq/kg to (75.69 ± 3.71) Bq/Kg and (38.28 ± 1.82) Bq/kg to (89.28 ± 2.17) Bq/Kg, with mean values which stands at (114.75 ± 4.99) Bq/Kg for ⁴⁰K, (42.41 ± 4.67) Bq/Kg for ²²⁶Ra and (62.01 ± 1.37) Bq/Kg for ²³²Th respectively. Hence the results obtained in this study indicate that the activity concentration of the farmland soils and crops represent a significant health risk on the farmers and the consumers of the crops.

Keyword: Activity concentration, soil, food crops, Gamma ray spectrometry and Radionuclides