Fertility Cancer and Hereditary Risks in Soil Sample of Nasarawa, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

A survey of Fertility Cancer and Hereditary Risks in Soil Sample of Nasarawa was carried out. This study assessed the level of Fertility Cancer and Hereditary Risks in some part of Nasarawa using the gamma-ray spectrometry. The mean concentration for 40K was 645.29 ± 07.32 Bq/kg, for 226Ra was 28.43 ± 4.8422 Bq/Kg and for 232Th was 66.84 ± 2.0201 Bq/Kg. The average effective dose due to the ingestion was 0.36±0.1µSv/y which was approximately 1000 times lower than the world average effective dose. Radium equivalent activity Raeq (Bq/kg), alpha index and total cancer risk were found to be 161.44±8.08 Bq/kg, 0.142±0.02 and (0.21±0.05) ×10-5 respectively. UNSCEAR/ USEPA stipulated that; radium equivalent activity, alpha index, effective dose and total cancer risk should not exceed the limit of 370 Bq/kg, unity, 300 µSv/y and 1 ×10-4 respectively. Hence the values obtained in this work were within the acceptable limits. This implies that the ingestion or inhalation of soil is not associated with any radiological risk of concern.