Radioactivity And Dose Assessment Of Rock And Soil Samples From Homa Mountain, Homa Bay County, Kenya

Abstract

The in situ measured average outdoor ab sorbed dose rate in air was found to vary from 108.4 to 1596.4 nGy h -1 at Homa Mountain area in southwestern Kenya. Rock and soil samples collected gave average values of the radioactivity concentrations of 40 K, 226 Ra and 232 Th of 915.6, 195.3 and 409.5 Bq kg -1 , respectively. The range of the a nnual effective dose for a person living in Homa Mountain area calcul ated varied from 28.6 to 1681.2, with a mean of 470.4 μSv. These results imply Homa Mountain have elevated levels of natural radioactivity thus the region is a high background radiation area.