Assessment of natural radioactivity in soil samples along the coastal villages of Tirunelveli District, Tamilnadu, India using gamma-ray spectroscopy

Natural radioactivity due to 238U, 232Th, and 40K in soil samples collected from coastal villages of Tirunelveli district, Tamilnadu was measured using a gamma-ray spectrometer. The activity concentrations of radionuclides in soil samples varied in the range of 5.45 to 263.30 Bq/kg for 238U, 72.56 to 1244.26 Bq/kg for 232Th, and 352.82 to 1751.41 Bq/kg for 40K respectively. The mean value of the radiological parameters like radium equivalent activity (549 Bq/kg), the annual effective dose rate indoor and outdoor (1.20 mSvy-1 and 0.30 mSvy-1), external and internal hazard indices (1.50 and 1.74) were estimated. All the radiological parameters exceed the world average values.