Activities of Primordial Radionuclides in the tobacco cultivated fields of Dindigul and Erode districts (Tamil Nadu, India)

Abstract

Present study is a novel attempt to estimate the activities of primordial radionuclides such as ²³⁸U (Uranium-238), ²³²Th (Thorium-232) and ⁴⁰K (Potassium-40) in the soil samples collected from tobacco plantations in Dindigul and Erode Districts. Radioactivity concentrations of the collected soil samples were determined with the aid of a NaI gamma-ray detector, which ranged from BDL (2 Bq/kg) to 20.3 Bq/kg for ²³⁸U, 5.1 to 156.5 Bq/kg for ²³²Th and 87.1 to 712.5 Bq/kg for ⁴⁰K respectively with mean value of 6.41, 54.34 and 296.96 respectively. Frequency distribution of the radionuclides showed the leptokurtic, platykurtic and mesokurtic for ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K respectively. The average activity concentrations of primordial radionuclides in the tobacco field soils of Dindigul and Erode Districts were compared to the published global average values. The estimated primordial activity concentration from the current work is lesser than that of the average global values.