Pietra Leccese and Other Natural Stones in Puglia Region: A New Category of Building Materials for Radiation Protection?

Giuseppe La Verde, Adelaide Raulo, Vittoria D’Avino, Giovanni Paternoster, Vincenzo Roca, Marco La Commara and Mariagabriella Pugliese
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Giuseppe La Verde: Dipartimento di Fisica “Ettore Pancini” Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via Cinthia ed. 6, 80126 Napoli, Italy
Adelaide Raulo: LB Business Services SRL, 00135 Roma, Italy
Vittoria D’Avino: Dipartimento di Fisica “Ettore Pancini” Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via Cinthia ed. 6, 80126 Napoli, Italy
Giovanni Paternoster: Dipartimento di Fisica “Ettore Pancini” Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via Cinthia ed. 6, 80126 Napoli, Italy
Vincenzo Roca: Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università della Campania “L. Vanvitelli”, Viale Lincoln 5, 81100 Caserta, Italy
Marco La Commara: Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, INFN Sezione di Napoli Via Cinthia ed. 6, 80126 Napoli, Italy
Mariagabriella Pugliese: Dipartimento di Fisica “Ettore Pancini” Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via Cinthia ed. 6, 80126 Napoli, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 21, 1-9

Abstract: In this paper, an in-depth and systematic study of the radiological characterization of three types of Puglia region natural limestones ( Pietra Leccese , Pietra Mazzara and Carparo ) was carried out. The investigation was performed by XRF spectroscopy for a chemical analysis, and gamma spectroscopy of the specific activity concentration of natural radionuclides 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K. Although the limestone does not fall within the category included by Italian Legislative Decree 101/2020, the gamma index was calculated using the results of the gamma spectroscopy measurements. For Pietra Mazzara and Carparo stones, the gamma index was found to be less than the reference value; conversely Pietra Leccese was found to be higher. To obtain a more complete evaluation of the external exposure, radium equivalent activity and external radiation hazard were calculated for all analyzed stones. The results suggest the need to broadly consider the radiological risk for these stones, and for limestone more generally, when used as a building material.

Keywords: building materials; external exposure; gamma spectroscopy; XRF spectroscopy; I ? index; natural stone (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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