Natural radioelement concentrations in fertilizers and the soil of the  Mila region of Algeria

Publication date: Available online 30 August 2017 Source:Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences Author(s): Amina Bramki, Mourad Ramdhane, Fatima Benrachi The addition of inorganic fertilizers to treat crop soil and increase its production has become a necessity and a tool used around the world. These fertilizers contain different quantities of uranium and thorium. Therefore, tons of radionuclides from natural radioactive series U 238 , U 235 and T 232 h are dispersed in the environment due to a high use of fertilizer in agriculture. In this work, the radioactivity levels were determined in two fertilizers and in fertilized and unfertilized soil samples collected at various depths from the Algerian agricultural region of El-Athmania Mila, using high resolution gamma ray spectroscopy. The activity concentrations of R 226 a , T 232 h and K 40 for fertilized and unfertilized soil samples were found unchanged as a function of depth and ranged from 23.72 ± 2.37 to 65.47 ± 5.06 B q . K g − 1 ; 32.48 ± 9.84 to 49.83 ± 5.31 B q . K g − 1 for 226Ra, from 26.45 ± 0.78 to 27.10 ± 0.80 B q . K g − 1 ; 27.56 ± 0.75 to 28.70 ± 0.90 B q . K g − 1 for T 232 h and from 220.80 ± 10.01 to 260.70 ± 8.24 B q . K g − 1 ; 283.50 ± 8.41 to 290.10 ± 10.50 B q . K g − 1 for K 40 respectively. The presence of C 137 s is found in all measured samples and its average activity for all soil samples was 3.12 ± 0.13 B q...
Source: Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences - Category: Physics Source Type: research