Assessment of Indoor Cancer Linked Radionuclides in Sokoto Urban Dwelling

Abstract

Radiation can be ambiguous to the layman. Typically, one only has an understanding of radiation from news, movies, or books. Largely these sources tend to sensationalize radiation, relating to solar and thermal radiations with little emphasis to ionizing radiations from primordial and anthropogenic radionuclides. Gamma-ray spectroscopy was used for determination of K-40 and Ra-226 in this study that was carried out by collecting air sample with Activated Charcoal Detectors (ACDs) mounted in thirty living apartment sample points in Sokoto. This provided information about the level of radionuclides present in the dwellings which have been implicated as a carcinogen to the lungs through ionizing radiations. Due to the sampling procedure in all the points, the results obtained now represent the entire dwelling. Thereby, allowing us to ascertain the environmental induced health impacts of K-40 and Ra-226.

Keywords: carcinogen, gamma-ray spectroscopy, ionization, radionuclides, Sokoto,