An Investigation of Natural Background Radiation and Health Risk Assessment in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, Iran

Abstract

Background: The natural radiation, which comes from the environment, is one of the most important cancer risk sources. Objectives: This study aimed to measure the natural background radiations (BRs) and estimate the annual effective dose (AED), as well as the health risks in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, Iran. Methods: background radiations for both indoors and outdoors were measured using a Geiger-Muller detector (X5C plus) in eight cities. Five points were chosen in each city for the BR measurements, and in each point, five stations were randomly selected and measured. Results: The average outdoor and indoor dose rates were obtained 136.9 ± 12.5 and 149.3 ± 19.8 nSv.h-1, respectively. The mean AEDs for adults, children, and infants were 0.17, 0.19, and 0.22 mSv.y-1 resulting from the outdoor exposure, in that order, and these values for indoor irradiation were 0.73, 0.84, and 0.94 mSv.y-1. The percentage of excess lifetime cancer risks due to indoor exposure was 4.6% for whole populations and 3% for adults. The heritable effects risk for these groups were 0.17 and 0.073%, respectively. Conclusions: The findings of the present study indicated that the average value of BR dose rates was higher than the global value. The reason can be due to the high exposure levels of hot springs, igneous rock, and high altitudes in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province.