Figure
Fig ure 1. Sim pli fied map of Stara Planina Mt. with sam pling points in the af fected (A) and po ten tially af fected (P) area
Source publication
The aim of this work was to estimate the health and radiation hazard due to external irradiation from terrestrial radionuclides in the Stara planina Mt. region, which is important because of past uranium mining activities on the mountain. Soil samples were collected inside the flotation processing facilities, their surroundings and more distant loc...
Similar publications
The concentrations of natural and artificial radionuclides in soil samples collected from the different areas of Chittagong City Corporation were measured by using Gamma-ray Spectrometry of High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector.The concentration of 238 U was found to be in the range 25.66 ± 5.48 Bq/Kg to 48.87 ± 6.00 Bq/Kg with an average value of...
The concentrations of natural and artificial radionuclides in soil samples collected from the different areas of Chittagong City Corporation were measured by using Gamma ray Spectrometry of High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector.
The concentration of 238U was found to be in the range 25.66 ± 5.48 Bq/Kg to 48.87 ± 6.00 Bq/Kg with an average value o...
The Paranaguá Terrane, located in the coastal portion of the states of Santa Catarina, Paraná and São Paulo in Southern Brazil is a crustal segment constituted mainly by an igneous complex, with a variety of granitic rocks inserted into the Serra do Mar ridge. The average altitude is approximately 1200 m above sea level, with peaks of up to 1800 m....
Citations
... The closed uranium mines, old geotechnical installations and facilities, the tailings ponds, as well as the polluted production sites represent one very significant source of contamination, which will continue to exert a negative impact in the coming decades along with other mining-caused pollutions (Cholakova 2019;Penin and Zhelev 2020;Kotsev and Stoyanova 2022). In recent years, studies of environmental hazards that come from abandoned uranium mines in specific regions of the Balkan Peninsula have been carried out in Bulgaria Tsekova and Bogoev 2010;Petrova 2012;Dikov and Bozhkov 2014;Ivanova et al. 2015;Tsekova and Lozev 2017), in Serbia Tanić et al. 2014), in Turkey (Turhan et al. 2012), in Croatia (Šoštarić et al. 2017;Petrinec et al. 2018;Ivanić et al. 2019) and other countries. Research related to the impact of the anthropogenic factor on the surface and underground water in different parts of Bulgaria was conducted by Marcheva et al. (2023) and Stefanov et al. (2023). ...
In the period from 1955 to 1992, uranium ore was mined and processed in the Mesta River basin around the village of Eleshnitsa, region of Razlog. The ore processing plant was built and a tailings storage facility was built next to it. In the period 2002–2006, the tailings storage was reclaimed, and in 2011–2012 the ore mines were also reclaimed. For the treatment of drainage water, a treatment plant was built in the valley of Valchoto Dere River, a left tributary of the Mesta River. The radiological monitoring carried out by the Basin Directorate “West Aegean Sea Region” reveals a generally good quality of the surface waters in terms of the content of uranium and radium (226Ra) outside the area of the former uranium mining and the tailings storage facility. In this area, in some years a high content of natural uranium was found, with concentrations from 0.54 to 67.40 mg/l on average per year. The values significantly exceed (by 1.8 to 224.6 times) the norm regulated in the regulation for radiation protection and safety from the liquidation of the consequences of uranium mining. The spread of uranium is limited to a small area shortly downstream from the sources of contamination, but the potential risk to the local ecosystem should not be neglected. Radium, in contrast to uranium, has concentrations below the permissible limits in the twelve years studied. Its content varied from 0.025 to 0.11 Bq/l on average annually. The results show that the Mesta River near the border with the Republic of Greece is not contaminated with the studied radionuclides.
... In addition to the economic reasons, the fear of possible radiation was also an important factor that accelerated the abandonment of the village. Measurements made in the vicinity of the mine have shown increased levels of radioactivity, but their impact on human health has not yet been sufficiently investigated [67][68][69]. According to the 2011 Census, Gabrovnica had only three inhabitants, with an average age of 79.8 years [70]. ...
Depopulated or abandoned spaces are a consequence of the emptying of settlements and the complete disappearance of the human factor in the use of space. The aim of this paper is to determine the size and structure of this space-clusters that can be considered abandoned at the regional level. In the focus of this paper is the space at the district level in Serbia, within which significant changes in land use occurred in the period 1990-2018. Time series of formal databases and data obtained by GIS tools were analysed in order to observe the changes in the structure of surfaces and to define the trend of merging or increasing the empty space during the last two decades. This paper analyses planning documents and strategies in order to determine with which problems the state identifies abandoned areas and what planning solutions are possible. A new method for calculating the homogenization of abandoned space is presented. The results indicate the homogenization of the abandoned space in the border regions in the south of Serbia, as well as major changes in land use, such as reforestation and reclamation of agricultural land.
... These precautions are especially significant for the communities who live at radionuclide mineralisation areas and use local environmental materials (7,8) . Otherwise, depending on the exposed dose, the probability of stochastic effects (e.g, cancer incidence) may increase and, with sufficiently high doses, deterministic effects may occur (e.g. ...
This study measured in situ indoor gamma dose rates in Arıklı village situated near a uranium mineralisation region, evaluated the risks of radiological health hazards and established a hypothetical relationship between these values and building materials using statistical tools. Eberline brand portable type ESP-2 model Na (I) scintillation probe connected detector was used for the measurements in 45 dwellings. Statistics revealed two groups. The first group consists of the dwellings made of bricks or mixed materials both plastered by cement, while the second group represented the dwellings made of Arıklı tuff plastered with soil (modified Arıklı tuff) or cement. For the first and second groups, respectively, the medians of the indoor gamma dose rates were 188.79 and 261.87 nGy/h; for indoor Annual Effective Dose Equivalents (AEDE in) they were 0.93 and 1.28 mSv/h; and for Excess Lifetime Cancer Risks (ELCR in) they were 3.69 and 5.12, respectively. All the values were higher than those of the world averages.
... In the present study, the mean values of ELCRout x 10 -4 for surface, adit, and core samples are 0.28 x 10 -4 , 0.35 x 10 -4 , and 0.36 x 10 -4 (Table 3 and Figure 9) that are found to be lower than the world ELCRout value (2.90 x 10 -4 ) (UNSCEAR, 2008;Tanić et al., 2014). Regarding the present radiation data and other ones reported from different countries (Table 4 and Figure 10), the average specific activity of 238 U, 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K of the studied albite granite are 77.6, ...
... Average ELCRout for the albite granites of Abu Dabbab area, compared to the worldwide average(Tanić et al., 2014) ...
Field and laboratory gamma measurements were performed for surface , adit, and core samples from Gabal Abu Dabbab albite granite Ta-Nb-Sn mining area, which is located some 50 km northwest of Marsa Alam city within the central Nubian Shield of Egypt. The field measurements were taken by portable RS-230 γ-ray spectrometer and the laboratory spectrometric analysis were verified by HPGe detector for 238 U, 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K (Bq/kg) in the studied samples to assess their radiation hazards. The natural radioactivity levels of surface samples maximized to 94.68, 61.64, 45.10, and 1051.62 Bq/kg for 238 U, 226 Ra, ³²Th, and ⁴⁰K respectively, whereas adit and core samples reached 206.47, 113.16, 198.7, and 939.43 Bq/kg respectively. Almost all values of radiation hazard indices in the studied samples were under the health hazard limits. A comparison of radiological and safety impact parameters on humans due to primor-dial radioactivity in the studied samples with some internationally approved values. In addition, statistical analysis of primordial radionuclides of 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K was performed to evaluate the distribution and the interrelation of radi-onuclides. Statistical depicting groups, two sample comparison tests (t-test and Mann-Whitney W-tests), summary statistics of the measurements, as well as health hazard indices, were used for evaluation.
... Recent studies have reported some data on environmental status of Serbia, but in various fields of interest pointing out various sources of contamination and pollution of certain areas (Borgna et al. 2009; Barać et al. 2016b;Ć ujić et al. 2017;Dragović et al. 2014;Gulan et al. 2013;Milenković et al. 2015;Momčilović et al. 2010;Serbula et al. 2014;Tanić et al. 2014Tanić et al. , 2016. The earlier two studies conducted in Southern Serbia were related to some other contaminated areas, and they investigated specific problems such as evaluation of the radioactivity and heavy metals in mining sites (Todorovic et al. 2012;Popovic et al. 2008). ...
Activity levels of natural and artificial radionuclides and content of ten heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn and Hg) were investigated in 41 soil samples collected from Toplica region located in the south part of Serbia. Radioactivity was determined by gamma spectrometry using HPGe detector. The obtained mean activity concentrations ± standard deviations of radionuclides ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K and ¹³⁷Cs were 29.9 ± 9.4, 36.6 ± 11.5, 492 ± 181 and 13.4 ± 18.7 Bq kg⁻¹, respectively. According to Shapiro–Wilk normality test, activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th were consistent with normal distribution. External exposure from radioactivity was estimated through dose and radiation risk assessments. Concentrations of heavy metals were measured by using ICP-OES, and their health risks were then determined. Enrichment by heavy metals and pollution level in soils were evaluated using the enrichment factor, the geoaccumulation index (Igeo), pollution index and pollution load index. Based on GIS approach, the spatial distribution maps of radionuclides and heavy metal contents were made. Spearman correlation coefficient was used for correlation analysis between radionuclide activity concentrations and heavy metal contents.
... Calculated average value for the external hazard index (0.4) was less than unity and there for indicate that there is no risk of exposure to terrestrial radiation. Obtained results are similar to the results published by Tanić et al [12]. ...
... Moreover, a significant number of people were also exposed to radiation from their local professions (laborers or doing agricultural practices). Irradiation of the human body from external radiation sources originates mainly from gamma radiation from terrestrial radionuclides of the 238 U and 232 Th series, and from 40 K [74]. The ultimate collective effective doses depend on the specific concentration of radionuclides present in the environment and in the human body [75]. ...
In Pakistan the Siwalik region is exposed to ionizing radiation (IR) from uranium mineralization. The current research describes the impact of long-term low-dose terrestrial ionizing radiation exposure on the hematopoietic indices of the region's inhabitants. Mean values of the selected complete blood count (CBC) parameters were calculated to examine low or high trend. A t-test was conducted on the mean values of CBC parameters to analyze parameters showing a significant difference between radiation-exposed people and radiation unexposed people. Most disturbed CBC parameters found low were: mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) 52%, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) 44%, and platelets (PLT) 28%. The most affected CBC parameter which was found to be high was lymphocyte count (LYM) 28%. Seven CBC parameters, including hemoglobin (HB), white blood cells (WBC), platelets (PLT), hematocrit (HCT), neutrophils (NEUT), MCH, and MCHC, showed a decrease trend in radiation-exposed residents and two CBC parameters, including red blood cells (RBC) and LYM, showed an increased trend. Significant differences were found in the parameters viz:, HB, WBC, MCH, MCHC, HCT, and LYM by the t-test between radiation exposed and unexposed individuals. The odds of developing a low MCH were four times higher and the odds of developing a low MCHC were 4.4 times higher for radiation-exposed individuals as compared to radiation unexposed. The persistent low-dose IR exposure resulted in anemia and immune modulation in radiation-exposed residents.
This review paper discusses the content of natural ( 40K, 238U, 226Ra, and 232Th) and artificial (137Cs) radionuclides in the soil of the mountains of Maljen, Tara and Kopaonik in the Republic of Serbia over 2002-2015. In addition, the paper gives radiation hazard parameters, i.e., radium equivalent activity, absorbed dose rate, annual effective dose equivalent, external hazard index, annual gonadal dose equivalent, and excess lifetime cancer risk outdoors that we calculated from the obtained content of the natural radionuclides in the soil samples. We compared the parameters to previously published results for different parts of the country and looked into the radioecological status of the investigated areas.
The deals with the determination of the possible radiological risks by the help of internationally approved health hazard addressed by field and laboratory gamma measurements performed for surface, adit and core samples from Gabal Abu Dabbab albite granite Ta-Nb-Sn mining area. The studied area is located some 50 km northwestern Marsa Alam city within the central Nubian Shield of Egypt. The field measurements were taken by portable RS-230 γ-ray spectrometer and the laboratory spectrometric analyzes were verified by HPGe detector for the radioactivity measurements of 238U, 226Ra, 232Th and 40K (Bq/kg) in the studied samples to assess their radiation hazards. Statistical depicting groups, summary statistics and two sample comparison tests (t-test and Mann-Whitney test) were used for statistical evaluations. The gamma-ray radioactivity levels of surface samples reached 94.68, 61.64, 45.10 and 1051.62 Bq/kg for 238U, 226Ra, 232Th and ⁴⁰K respectively, whereas adit samples reached 206.47, 113.16, 198.7, 939.43 Bq/kg and core samples reach to 108.23, 54.17, 43.47, 939.42 respectively. Almost values of the radiation hazard indices in the studied samples were under the health hazard limits.
The study deals with the determination of the possible radiological risks by the help of internationally approved health hazard addressed by field and laboratory gamma measurements performed for surface, adit and core samples from Gabal Abu Dabbab albite granite Ta-Nb-Sn mining area. The studied area is located some 50 km northwestern Marsa Alam city within the central Nubian Shield of Egypt. The field measurements were taken by portable RS-230 γ-ray spectrometer and the laboratory spectrometric analyzes were verified by HPGe detector for the radioactivity measurements of 238U, 226Ra, 232Th and 40K (Bq/kg) in the studied samples to assess their radiation hazards. Statistical depicting groups, summary statistics and two sample comparison tests (t-test and Mann-Whitney test) were used for statistical evaluations. The gamma-ray radioactivitylevels of surface samples reached 94.68, 61.64, 45.10 and 1051.62 Bq/kg for 238U, 226Ra, 232Th and ⁴⁰K respectively, whereas adit samples reached 206.47, 113.16, 198.7, 939.43 Bq/kg and core samples reach to 108.23, 54.17, 43.47, 939.42 respectively. Almost values of the radiation hazard indices in the studied samples were under the health hazard limits.
