A study of radon exhalation rates and activity concentration of Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 in soil samples of Roopnagar district, Punjab, India

This study aimed to estimate the, exhalation rate, and natural radioactivity in the soil of Roopnagar district, Punjab. The radon mass and surface exhalation rate ranged from 1.18 mBq kg(-1) h(-1) to 5.72 mBq kg(-1) h(-1), with an average value of 2.68 mBq kg(-1) h(-1), and from 4.89 mBq m(-2) h(-1) to 23.58 mBq m(-2) h(-1), with an average value of 11.09 mBq m(-2) h(-1), respectively. The activity concentration of Ra-226, Th-232, and K-40 was found to be 31.9 Bq kg(-1), 44.1 Bq kg(-1), and 419.0 Bq kg(-1), respectively. The air absorbed dose rates of radionuclides Ra-226, Th-232, and K-40 had an average value of 14.88 nGyh(-1), 27.4 nGyh(-1), and 5.89 nGyh(-1), respectively. The total air absorbed dose from all radionuclides ranged from 19.5 nGyh(-1) to 87.7 nGyh(-1), with an average value of 48.1 nGyh(-1), which is discovered to be well below the levels considered dangerous by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiations.