Determination of Natural Radionuclides and Mineral Contents in Environmental Soil Samples

A study of natural radioactivity levels in environmental samples within the northern coastal region of Egypt and the Eastern Province—Khobar, Dammam, Saudi Arabia, has been evaluated. The samples were analyzed using gamma spectrometry based on HpGe detector. The mean activity concentrations of ²³⁸U, ²³²Th, ²³⁵U, ⁴⁰K in addition to ¹³⁷Cs were 27.03 ± 6.74 Bq/kg, 19.76 ± 0.92 Bq/kg, 0.83 ± 0.06 Bq/kg, 147.11 ± 1.69 Bq/kg and 0.09 ± 0.01 Bq/kg for the first region and 32.9 ± 6.65 Bq/kg, 28.2 ± 0.78 Bq/kg, 1.10 ± 0.3 Bq/kg, 193.8 ± 1.55 Bq/kg and 0.1 ± 0.001 Bq/kg for the second region, respectively. The radiological hazard parameters such as the absorbed dose rate (D), annual effective dose equivalent (AEDE), gamma-ray hazard index (Iγ) and the annual gonadal dose equivalent of the studied samples were estimated. Also, the current work provided the mineralogical composition and the correlations between them and the distribution of radionuclides.