Comparative Assessment of Background Ionizing Radiation Levels and Public Safety Limits in Modern and Traditional Buildings of Kurudu, Abuja

This study evaluated and compared background ionizing radiation (BIR) levels within modern and traditional buildings in Kurudu. The assessment targeted twenty locations per building category, computing the Indoor Annual Effective Dose Rate (IAEDR) and Outdoor Annual Effective Dose Rate (OAEDR) to establish the total effective dose rate. For modern structures, the background radiation dose rate ranges yielded an overall mean IAEDR of 1.32 ± 0.01 mSv/yr, and OAEDR of 0.27 ± 0.01 mSv/yr, and a total effective dose rate of 1.59 ± 0.01 mSv/yr. Conversely, traditional structures exhibited lower background values, maintaining an overall mean IAEDR of 1.02 ± 0.01 mSv/yr, and OAEDR of 0.34 ± 0.01 mSv/yr, and a total effective dose rate of 1.37 ± 0.02 mSv/yr. While the majority of isolated readings remain safely bounded, the accumulated total effective dose rates in both building types exceeded the standard public safety limit of 1.0 mSv/yr established by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). However, the values fall well within the broader global background radiation safety ceiling of 2.4 to 3.0 mSv/yr outlined by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR).