Measurement of radon concentrations in soil and the extent of their impact on the environment from Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia

Wedad Reif Alharbi, Adel G. E. Abbady

hysics Department, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt;.
Physics Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, KSA.

DOI: 10.4236/ns.2013.51015                

Abstract

Soil gas radon ²²²Rn concentration was measured at 12 location in the Al-Qassim area, using radon gas analyzer-type Alpha GUARD 2000 PRQ from Genitron Instruments (Germany). In each location four different depths were taken for soil gas measurements, staring from the ground surface. The results suggested that the largest concentration was 340 ± 22 Bq/m³ for 60cm depth at in Al-Tarfia point sample P3, and the smallest concentration was 26 ± 5 Bq/m³ for surface 0 cm depth at El-Bakria, point sample P5. The results obtained from this study indicate that the region has background radioactivity levels within the natural limits.

Keywords

Natural Radioactivity; Radon; Soil; Alpha Guard

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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