https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-025-06766-3
Regular Article
Assessment of natural radioactivity and radiological risks in soil from scrap metal dumpsites in Plateau State, North-Central Nigeria
1
Department of Physics, Federal University of Education, Pankshin, Plateau State, Nigeria
2
Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi, Bauchi, Nigeria
3
Physics Department. Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
4
Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural and Applied Science, Nigerian Army University, P.O. Box 1500, Biu, Borno State, Nigeria
5
Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Borno State University, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria
6
Physics Department. Faculty of Science, Isra University Amman, Amman, Jordan
7
Renewable Energy and Environmental Technology Center, University of Tabuk, 47913, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
8
Department of Physics and Technical Sciences, Western Caspian University, Baku, Azerbaijan
a
simdetakila@gmail.com
b
rilwan.usman@naub.edu.ng
Received:
22
June
2025
Accepted:
15
August
2025
Published online:
3
September
2025
A total of seventeen soil samples were taken at point source of the scrap metal dumpsites in Plateau State, located in the North-Central region of Nigeria. To determining the natural radioactivity, the samples were examined using a NaI (Tl) detector. 85.04, 66.64, and 277.84 Bq/kg are the average activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40 K. Raeq (201.72 Bq/kg), Hex (0.54), Hin (0.77), ER (399.22 μR/h), DR (33.26 mSv/y), and Dair (92.26 nGy/h) were the parameters that were used in the calculation of the radiological assessments. Not only were the average values of 226Ra and 232Th, greater than the average values of the globe, but they were also higher than the average values of the Dair and AEDEin. In terms of radioactive dangers, the average values of radium equivalent activity and the indices were both lower than the levels that are considered acceptable on an international scale. This investigation may provide initial information for future monitoring of soil radioactivity and its findings could be used as an indicator for further radiological evaluations.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
