Environmental radioactivity of radon and its hazards in Hamash gold mine, Egypt

Abstract EN

Radon concentrations have been measured using sealed can technique with CR-39 detector for twenty collected samples from Hamash gold mine area, South Eastern Desert of Egypt.

this area is one of the most important areas of gold-bearing granites in Arabian Nubian shield and is being used as a gold mine.

the average values of radon concentrations, the exhalation rates, annual effective doses, and working levels are found to be 27.18 ± 0.13 kBqm-3, 3.27 ± 0.03 Bqm-2h-1, 686.27 ± 5.15 mSvy-1 and 2.94 ± 0.02 respectively.

the results indicate that the radon concentrations in all samples are higher than the recommended world limit given by ICRP and IAEA.

the present study can be used to assess any changes in the radioactive background and any harmful radiation effect on the human in this area.

finally, the obtained data are useful when building a radioactivity atlas of radon for Hamash gold mine and its surrounding region.