Measurement of Background Ionizing Radiation in Kogi State, Nigeria

Radiation is said to be energy that is in motion and manifests itself everywhere we look in the form of waves or particles which can either useful or dangerous. Since radiation has always existed in the environment since the earth’s origin, daily exposure to varied levels of ionizing radiation is inevitable for humans. Therefore, environmental radioactivity measurements are crucial for measuring the background radiation level caused by naturally occurring radioactive sources with terrestrial and cosmic origins because of these effects on living beings. The aim of this paper is to measure and record the background radiation of various locations evenly distributed across the twenty-one (21) local government areas of Kogi State and use the measured value to produce a reliable and easily accessible background radiation contour map for Kogi State using ArcGIS 10.3. Using a portable RDS-31 Multi-survey meter, the dose rate of background ionizing radiation (BIR) was measured in μSv/hr and the result shows that Ankpa LGA has the lowest mean readings of 0.096 μSv/hr and 0.1682 mSv/yr for the annual equivalent dose rates. Yagba East had the highest mean reading of 0.2300μSv/hr and highest annual equivalent dose rates of 0.4030mSv/yr. The result shows that eventhough the AEDE are greater than the 0.07mSv/yr global average value, however they are all below the ICRP’s recommended permitted limits of 1.00mSv/yr. This demonstrates that there are no immediate radiological health effects on the general people as a result of BIR exposure in the examined locations. It is recommended that the various human activities that raise BIR levels in the regions should be reduced and that activity concentrations of natural radionuclides and BIR levels in the state be periodically assessed.