Asian Basic and Applied Research Journal

Exposure to radiation, especially ionizing radiation from both natural and artificial sources, is one of the major challenges facing the public. This may have short and long-term effects on man and his environment. This study investigates the distributions of natural radionuclides (⁴⁰K, ²³⁸U, and ²³²Th) in surface soil and water at Doma, Nasarawa State. Twenty (20) samples (10 samples each) for surface soil and water were randomly collected and analysed using a NaI(TI) detector. Multivariate statistics were employed in data analysis. Results revealed that in the surface soil, mean activity concentrations of radionuclides (⁴⁰K, ²³⁸U, and ²³²Th) were below the acceptable limits (400, 35, and 30 Bq/kg, respectively) by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). However, in the surface water, they were above the safe limits (10.0, 1.0, and 1.0 Bq/L, respectively). This depicts radiological contamination of the surface water, making it unsuitable for drinking. We tend to attribute the high ⁴⁰K to the leaching of inorganic potassium fertilizers used to enrich farmlands, while ²³⁸U and ²³²Th may be due to minerals in the bedrock. Alternative water sources should be provided to mitigate the implications of exposure to contaminated surface water. Generally, the activity concentration observed varied across the sampled points, which suggests they are not evenly distributed. Furthermore, a significant relation was observed between radionuclides and radiological hazard indices at p < 0.05. The insight from this study can be employed in the monitoring of environmental contamination of radionuclides from both natural and artificial sources.