The radioactivity of concrete as multicomponent building materials

Abstract

Assessment of radioactivity and radiological hazards associated with multicomponent construction materials is essential since industrial waste, which may be natural radionuclide concentrators, has been used lately in the production of construction materials. Construction materials are the sources of γ-radiation and ingress of radon. The subject of the research is radioactive properties of multicomponent concretes and calculation of human radiation exposure when using concretes. The gamma-spectrometric method determined the specific activities of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in 7 samples of concrete. According to the value of the effective specific activity Cef <370 Bq/kg, the concrete samples under research belong to class I of radiation hazard and can be used in construction without restrictions. The effective equivalent dose of radiation for people living in concrete premises for 50 years is smaller than the total dose of radiation of the population due to natural radionuclides and conducting medical procedures 170 mSv. However, based on the calculated average annual tissue (pulmonary) doses of human exposure with radon for ventilated and unventilated premises and on the dose level because of γ-radiation, the samples of concrete were found that cannot be recommended for the use in civil engineering. It is shown that according to the data on the radioactivity of the samples and the mass contribution of their individual components, it is possible to determine the variation in the content of other concrete components.
Building materials are sources of radon inside buildings. Radon radionuclides and their daughter decay products pose a risk of exposure through alpha radiation.