title: Uranium content and dose assessment for phosphate fertiliser and soil samples: comparison of uranium concentration between virgin soil and fertilised soil.
abstract: Specific activity of (235)U and (238)U in soil and fertiliser samples from Guellal region in Setif (Algeria) was determined by gamma-ray spectrometry. The selected phosphate fertilisers samples were collected from two types of fertilisers NPK (N, nitrogen; P, phosphorus; K, potassium) and NPKs (sulphate-based NPK). These last ones are used to fertilise the studied area as well as a radioactivity comparison between the soils before and after fertilisation. NPK and NPKs fertilisers have presented higher concentrations of the radionuclide (238)U, up to 1125 and 1545 Bq kg(-1), respectively. For soils before and after fertilisation, the concentrations of (238)U were, respectively, 252.8 and 316.2 Bq kg(-1). The average value and range of measured concentration of (235)U for soils before fertilisation was 12.16 ± 1.4 Bq kg(-1) and for the fertilised soils was 15.16 ± 1.8 Bq kg(-1), whereas the corresponding values for NPK and NPKs fertilisers were, respectively, 49.38 ± 5.7 and 50.61 ± 5.2 Bq kg(-1).
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Faculty of Sciences, UFAS, Sétif 19000, Algeria. boukhenfoufw@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Wassila
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Boukhenfouf
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boucenna
mesh_terms: D000462:Algeria; D005308:Fertilizers / Q000032:analysis*; D010710:Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry*; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D013051:Spectrometry, Gamma; D013910:Thorium / Q000032:analysis; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D005308:Fertilizers; D010710:Phosphates; D012987:Soil; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D014501:Uranium; D013910:Thorium