Determination of radioactivity levels and radiological risk factors in bozcaada-canakkale, turkey

Background: Natural radiation is radiation that comes from two main environmental sources, the cosmic radiation from space that passes through the atmosphere, and terrestrial radiation is created when radionuclides decay in rock and soil.The most important radionuclides forming the natural radioactivity in terrestrial sources are 40 K, 238 U and 232 Th.Material and Methods: In this study, 137 Cs, 40 K, 238 U and 232 Th activity levels were measured in samples taken from different parts of the island and beaches to determine the environmental radioactivity of Bozcada-anakkale using gamma spectrometry with a NaI(Tl) detector and radiation hazard indexes were calculated for soils.Results: Average activity concentrations of 40 K, 238 U, 232 Th and 137 Cs in soils were obtained as 427, 24, 31, and 29 Bqkg -1 , respectively.The average activity values for 40 K, 238 U, 232 Th and 137 Cs in beach sands were determined to be 329, 23, 11 and 14 Bqkg -1 , respectively.Radiological risk factors for Bozcaada soils were calculated.Conclusion: Our results were compared with the literature data and average world limit values.As a result of this study, we can state that the activity concentrations of Bozcaada Island beach sands are lower than the activity concentrations of soils.Since Bozcada is an island that attracts tourists, the low radionuclide activity in the beach sands shows that this place does not pose a significant radiological threat to peoples.