Effect of gamma dose rate on the public from soil samples collected from industrial areas of Tamil Nadu

The present work is the first and foremost radiological study of soil samples collected from industrial estates in Tamil Nadu. The magnetic susceptibility measurement revealed that 74.19% of the samples have medium %χFD, which denotes a commixture of coarser grains or the SP grains with a size of <0.005 μm. The range of measured activities of 210Po and 210Pb were 3 ± 0.3–38 ± 2.6 Bq kg−1 and 16 ± 1.5–48 ± 2.9 Bq kg−1. The mean activity concentrations of 238U (33 Bq kg−1) and 40K (467 Bq kg−1) marginally exceeded the Indian recommended values of 28.67 and 400 Bq kg−1, respectively, whereas 232Th (47 Bq kg−1) did not exceed 63.83 Bq kg−1. The 238U and 232Th are the significant contributors to the production of radiogenic heat in the study area. Pearson correlation analysis confirmed the prime role of 232Th in radiation hazards and the insignificant relation between magnetic minerals and natural radioactivity.