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© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

This article reports the results of an investigation into the activity concentration of natural radionuclides in raw building materials for underground parking lots, together with the assessment of the radiation hazard for the public related to exposure to ionizing radiations. To this purpose, high-purity germanium (HPGe) γ-ray spectrometry was employed in order to quantify the average specific activity of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K natural radioisotopes. With the aim to assess any possible radiological health risk for the population, the absorbed γ-dose rate (D), the annual effective dose equivalent outdoor (AEDEout) and indoor (AEDEin), the activity concentration index (I), and the alpha index (Iα) were also estimated, resulting in values that were lower than the maximum recommended ones for humans. Finally, the extent of the correlations existing between the observed radioactivity and radiological parameters and of these parameters with the analyzed samples was quantified through statistical analyses, including Pearson’s correlation, a principal component analysis (PCA), and a hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). As a result, three clusters of the investigated samples were recognized based on their chemical composition and mineralogical nature. Noteworthily, this paper covers a certain gap in science since its topic does not appear in literature in this form. Thus, the authors underline the importance of this work to global knowledge in the environmental research and public health fields.

Details

Title
Natural Radioactivity in Raw Building Materials for Underground Parking Lots and Assessment of Radiological Health Risk for the Population
Author
Caridi, Francesco 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Paladini, Giuseppe 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Mottese, Antonio Francesco 1 ; Filippo Giammaria Praticò 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Faggio, Giuliana 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Messina, Giacomo 3 ; Belvedere, Alberto 4 ; Marguccio, Santina 4 ; Maurizio D’Agostino 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Majolino, Domenico 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Venuti, Valentina 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Messina, V.le F. Stagno D’Alcontres, 31-98166 Messina, Italy; [email protected] (A.F.M.); [email protected] (D.M.); [email protected] (V.V.) 
 Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Ettore Majorana”, Università degli Studi di Catania, Via S. Sofia, 64-95123 Catania, Italy; [email protected] 
 Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, delle Infrastrutture e dell’Energia Sostenibile (DIIES), Università “Mediterranea”, Loc. Feo di Vito, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy; [email protected] (F.G.P.); [email protected] (G.F.); [email protected] (G.M.) 
 Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente della Calabria (ARPACal), Dipartimento di Reggio Calabria, Via Troncovito SNC, 89135 Reggio Calabria, Italy; [email protected] (A.B.); [email protected] (S.M.); [email protected] (M.D.) 
First page
315
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
MDPI AG
ISSN
1661-7827
e-ISSN
1660-4601
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3002346374
Copyright
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.