Assessment of background radiation fin playgrounds of selected basic schools in the GA east municipal district, Accra, Ghana

Abstract

A study has been carried out in the play grounds of selected basic schools in the Ga East municipal district of Accra, Ghana, to determine the exposure of school children to the radiation emitted by Naturally Occurring Radionuclide Materials and trace elements. The activity concentrations of different radionuclides were determined using high purity germanium (HPGe) detector. The average activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th and 40K were found to be19.8±8.7, 29.1±16.3 and119.4±97.9 Bq ·kg−1 respectively. The average annual effective dose calculated from these activity concentrations was 0.04mSv which is below the dose limit of1 mSv/year recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) for public exposure control. Radiological hazard assessments were carried out and the Rn−222 concentration and exhalation rate were estimated to be 32.13 kBg ·m−3 and 0.016 Bg ·m−2 · s−1 respectively. These values are with in the world average values..