Natural Radioactivity in Raw Building Materials for Underground Parking Lots and Assessment of Radiological Health Risk for the Population

Francesco Caridi (), Giuseppe Paladini, Antonio Francesco Mottese, Filippo Giammaria Praticò, Giuliana Faggio, Giacomo Messina, Alberto Belvedere, Santina Marguccio, Maurizio D’Agostino, Domenico Majolino and Valentina Venuti
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Francesco Caridi: Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Messina, V.le F. Stagno D’Alcontres, 31-98166 Messina, Italy
Giuseppe Paladini: Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Ettore Majorana”, Università degli Studi di Catania, Via S. Sofia, 64-95123 Catania, Italy
Antonio Francesco Mottese: Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Messina, V.le F. Stagno D’Alcontres, 31-98166 Messina, Italy
Filippo Giammaria Praticò: Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, delle Infrastrutture e dell’Energia Sostenibile (DIIES), Università “Mediterranea”, Loc. Feo di Vito, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Giuliana Faggio: Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, delle Infrastrutture e dell’Energia Sostenibile (DIIES), Università “Mediterranea”, Loc. Feo di Vito, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Giacomo Messina: Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, delle Infrastrutture e dell’Energia Sostenibile (DIIES), Università “Mediterranea”, Loc. Feo di Vito, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Alberto Belvedere: Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente della Calabria (ARPACal), Dipartimento di Reggio Calabria, Via Troncovito SNC, 89135 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Santina Marguccio: Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente della Calabria (ARPACal), Dipartimento di Reggio Calabria, Via Troncovito SNC, 89135 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Maurizio D’Agostino: Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente della Calabria (ARPACal), Dipartimento di Reggio Calabria, Via Troncovito SNC, 89135 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Domenico Majolino: Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Messina, V.le F. Stagno D’Alcontres, 31-98166 Messina, Italy
Valentina Venuti: Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Messina, V.le F. Stagno D’Alcontres, 31-98166 Messina, Italy

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: This article reports the results of an investigation into the activity concentration of natural radionuclides in raw building materials for underground parking lots, together with the assessment of the radiation hazard for the public related to exposure to ionizing radiations. To this purpose, high-purity germanium (HPGe) γ-ray spectrometry was employed in order to quantify the average specific activity of 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K natural radioisotopes. With the aim to assess any possible radiological health risk for the population, the absorbed γ-dose rate ( D ), the annual effective dose equivalent outdoor ( AEDE out ) and indoor ( AEDE in ), the activity concentration index ( I ), and the alpha index ( I α ) were also estimated, resulting in values that were lower than the maximum recommended ones for humans. Finally, the extent of the correlations existing between the observed radioactivity and radiological parameters and of these parameters with the analyzed samples was quantified through statistical analyses, including Pearson’s correlation, a principal component analysis (PCA), and a hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). As a result, three clusters of the investigated samples were recognized based on their chemical composition and mineralogical nature. Noteworthily, this paper covers a certain gap in science since its topic does not appear in literature in this form. Thus, the authors underline the importance of this work to global knowledge in the environmental research and public health fields.

Keywords: building materials; underground parking lots; natural radioactivity; radiological health risk; multivariate statistics; Pearson’s correlation; principal component analysis; hierarchical cluster analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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