Measurement of Radiological Hazard Indices in Cereals Grown Around Ririwai Tin Mine, Kano State, North Western Nigeria

Mining and mineral processing in Nigeria provides economic benefits of wealth creation and employment opportunities. However the industry is associated with a number of negative challenges among which is the health impact on miners and surrounding communities arising from mining processes. The process produced large volumes of tailings and waste that may contain naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs). Some of the NORMs are soluble in water and have the tendency to leach into water bodies and farm lands. This work measured the radiological hazard indices in cereals grown around Ririwai Tin Mine Kano State, North Western Nigeria using Direct Gamma Spectroscopy (NaI (Tl)), The results shows that the mean activity concentration in cereals samples were 59.99±2.76, 25.95±2.55 and 46.81±1.99 Bq/kg respectively for 40K, 226Ra and 232Th, the mean absorbed dose rate was 32.56±1.44nGyh, the mean committed effective dose for 40K is0.052±0.002 mSv/year, 226Ra has a mean committed effective dose of 0.980±0.100mSv/year while 232Th has a mean committed effective dose of is 1.508±0.064mSv/year The total committed effective dose in cereals is 2.540±0.150mSv/year. The risk estimated were Fatality cancer risk to population per year is 1.34?10-4, Lifetime fatality cancer risk to population is 9.38?10-3 , Severe Hereditary effect per year is 5.10?10-6 and Lifetime Hereditary effects is 3.40?10-4 . The values of all the radiological indices obtained in this study are relatively high due to high bioaccumulation of 40K, 226Ra and 232Th by the cereals, suggesting that their consumption could pose radiological health hazards.