Environmental radioactivity levels in agricultural soil and wheat grains collected from wheat-farming lands of Koya district, Kurdistan region-Iraq

The purpose of this study is to determine the activity concentration levels of radionuclides of226Ra,232Th,40K, and137Cs in soil and wheat grain samples. A total of 72 samples of soil and wheat grains were collected in the study area. Measurements were performed using a gamma-ray spectroscopic system based on high purity germanium detector. The average activity concentrations of226Ra,232Th, and40K in soil samples were found to be 14.7 ± 0.2 Bq/kg, 19.9 ± 0.5 Bq/kg, and 329 ± 5.4 Bq/kg, respectively, and for the measured wheat grain samples their values were found to be 0.4 ± 0.09 Bq/kg for226Ra, 0.36 ± 0.1 Bq/kg for228Ra, and 109.2 ± 2.2 Bq/kg for40K. The calculated mean values of radium equivalent activity Raeq, outdoor absorbed dose rate Dout, and outdoor annual effective dose rate of the soil samples were found to be 68.55 Bq/kg, 32.5 nGy/h, and 0.039 mSv/year, respectively. Moreover, the radionuclide transfer factor from soil-to-wheat grains of naturally occurring radionuclides were found in this order40K > 226Ra > 228Ra.

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