EVALUATION OF NATURAL RADIONUCLIDES AND ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF FERTILIZER USING DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES

Abstract

The main target of this study is to make a comparison between different kinds of fertilizers by measure the concentration of natural radionuclide's, heavy metals and toxic substances, using different techniques. First, The concentration of the natural radionuclides are measured in all the studying samples to find the specific radioactivity of 238Useries, 232Th-series and 40K by using a high resolution gamma ray spectrometer based on coaxial HPGe detector shielded by cylinders of lead, copper and cadmium. The analysis of data is completed by using a computerized analyzer fitted with a high multichannel analyzer with high level software programs. Fourteen samples of fertilizer were collected from different places in Egypt markets and industries. Calculate the radiological parameters (Radium equivalent activity Raeq, Radiation level index, External hazard index Hex, Internal hazard index Hin, Absorbed dose rate DR and Effective dose Eeff) to make a comparison with the permissible international level. The results of concentration levels are compared with similar studies carried out in other countries. The mean activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th, 226Ra and 40K for studied fertilizer samples has been observed to ranged from (9.67 to 562.10), (11.02 to 362.29), (33.41 to 1162.39) and (92.65 to 17162.88) Bq/Kg for 238U, 232Th , 226Ra and 40K respectively. II Abstract The permissible activity levels for fertilizers are 50, 50 and 500 Bq/kg for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K respectively as a soil but for super phosphate (SSP) and potash (PF) fertilizer are 1000, 1000 and 4000 Bq/kg for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K respectively (UNSCEAR, 2000 and El-Taher & Mohamed Anwar Abdelhalim, 2013).