Natural Radioactivity in Different Commercial Ceramic Samples Used in Palestinian Buildings as Construction Materials

Abstract

This work presents the radioactivity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and40K for 36 commercial ceramic samples collected from 12 different companies and used in the construction of Palestinian buildings. The studied samples were analyzed and the concentrations of radioisotopes were determined by -ray spectrometry using hyper-pure germanium (HPGe) detector in Bq/kg dry-weight. Detected average values of concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were 73.7 , 58.2 and 624.0 Bq/kg respectively. The different radiation indices which indicate hazardous radiation were also determined. The results showed that the average radium equivalent (Raeq), the absorbed dose rate (Dr), the annual effective dose equivalent (AEDE), the external hazard index (Hex), and the radioactivity level index ( ) were: 205.2 Bq/kg, 97 nGy/hr, 0.97 mSv/yr, 0.55 and 1.49 respectively. The mean values of Raeq, AEDE and Hex obtained in this study were in good agreement with those of the international values while the mean values of Dr and were higher than the international values. The measured activity concentrations for these radionuclide were compared with the reported data obtained from similar materials used in other countries and with typical world values.