title: Background radiation and individual dosimetry in the costal area of Tamil Nadu, India.
abstract: South coast of India is known as the high-level background radiation area (HBRA) mainly due to beach sands that contain natural radionuclides as components of the mineral monazite. The rich deposit of monazite is unevenly distributed along the coastal belt of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. An HBRA site that laid in 2×7 m along the sea was found in the beach of Chinnavillai, Tamil Nadu, where the maximum ambient dose equivalent reached as high as 162.7 mSv y(-1). From the sands collected at the HBRA spot, the high-purity germanium semi-conductor detector identified six nuclides of thorium series, four nuclides of uranium series and two nuclides belonging to actinium series. The highest radioactivity observed was 43.7 Bq g(-1) of Th-228. The individual dose of five inhabitants in Chinnavillai, as measured by the radiophotoluminescence glass dosimetry system, demonstrated the average dose of 7.17 mSv y(-1) ranging from 2.79 to 14.17 mSv y(-1).
authors.affiliation: Center for Frontier Life Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan. nuric@nagasaki-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Brahmanandhan
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takamura
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Suyama
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koguchi
authors.forename: Norimichi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Juto
authors.forename: Y Lenin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Raj
authors.forename: Godwin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Winsley
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Selvasekarapandian
mesh_terms: D001417:Background Radiation; D005857:Germanium; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008674:Metals, Rare Earth / Q000737:chemistry; D011874:Radiometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis*; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D013910:Thorium / Q000032:analysis*; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D008674:Metals, Rare Earth; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D005857:Germanium; C015370:monazite; D014501:Uranium; D013910:Thorium; D012822:Silicon Dioxide