Assessment of Natural Radioactivity and Radiological Hazard indices in Soil of Some Geological Formations in Sokoto Group of Sokoto Basin, Northwestern Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33003/fjorae.2026.03SI.84Keywords:
Natural radioactivity, Geological formation, Sokoto Basin, Gamma spectroscopy, Health hazardAbstract
This study measured and assessed natural radioactivity and radiological hazard indices associated with the soil of some geological formations of Sokoto group of Sokoto basin. Total of twelve soil samples from Dange and Kalambaina geological formations were collected and analysed using gamma ray spectroscopy of Center for Energy Resarch and Development (CERD), Ile-Ife. Generally, samples from Dange formation recorded higher values than those from Kalambaina. The overall mean values for the soil samples from the study area were 55.5545±4.22 Bqkg-1, 120.2435±24.77 Bqkg-1and 1972.793±10.98 Bqkg-1 for the radionuclides 238U, 232Th and 40K respectively. These values are greater than worldwide average of 35 Bqkg-1, 30 Bqkg-1 and 400 Bqkg-1. Out of the seven radiological parameters evaluated only absorbed dose rate, radium equivalent and external hazard index with recorded values of 180.56 nGyhr-1, 1.02 and 377.43 Bqkg-1 are the only parameters with values slightly higher than their respective recommended safety limits. In the meantime, use of soil from the studied area may not pose any immediate health hazard to the populace, hence, can safely be used for building and farming activities while continuous radioactivity monitoring should be conducted for the entire Sokoto basin.
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