Investigation of Radon Concentration in the Soil in Oduduwa University, Ile-Ife Osun State
[1]
Oni Emmanuel Abiodun, Department of Physics with Electronics, Oduduwa University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
[2]
Oladapo Olukunle Olaonipekun, Department of Science Laboratory Technology, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria.
[3]
Oni Micheal Olatunde, Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria.
[4]
Aremu Abraham Adewale, Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria.
[5]
Obinomen Desmond Daniel, Department of Physics with Electronics, Oduduwa University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
[6]
Ajewole Emmanuel Sunday, Department of Physics with Electronics, Oduduwa University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Radon which can be found in soil gases is a gaseous highly radioactive element. Radon is a colorless odorless or tasteless chemically unreactive inertgas. Soil gas radon 222Rn concentration was measured at 4 different locations in the Oduduwa University Ipetumodu (OUI), using an active electronic radon detector called RAD7 coupled with a soil gas probe. In each location four different depths were taken for soil gas measurements, starting from (20cm to 80cm) below ground surface. The results suggested that the highest concentration was 16725±2332 Bq/m3 for 80cm depth at Oyetade hostel, and the lowest concentration was 163±895 Bq/m3 for 20cm depth at Ramon Adedoyin College of Natural and Applied Sciences (RACONAS). The results obtained from this study indicate that the radon concentration levels in OUI are well below the allowed levels which are range (0.4 to 40) KBq/m3. The annual effective doses related to the inhalation of radon gas and its progeny which were calculated from the Concentration of emanation in air near ground for each measured depth and it ranged from (0.002395 to 0.158954) mSv/y for depth 80cm, (0.0022429 to 0.057594) mSv/y for depth 60cm, (0.0016822 to 0.052367) mSv/y for depth 40cm, and (0.0015492 to 0.019626) mSv/y for depth 20cm, these results are less than the recommended global average dose from the inhalation of radon from all sources, which is 1mSv/y.
Radon, RAD7, Soil, OUI, Annual Effective Dose
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