Radiation hazards and natural radioactivity levels in surface soil samples from dwelling areas of North Cyprus

Due to increasing concern about environmental radiological protection, radioactivity concentrations of Ra-226, Th-232, K-40 and Cs-137 in surface soil samples collected from the North area of Cyprus have been determined using a high-resolution HPGe gamma-spectroscopy system. The range of activity concentrations of Ra-226, Th-232, K-40 and Cs-137 in the soil samples varies from 49.7 +/- 3 to 147.6 +/- 17.2, 18.1 +/- 1.5 to 93.9 +/- 10.7, 103.5 +/- 27 to 1468.6 +/- 176.1 and 4.3 +/- 0.1 to 15.9 +/- 1.3 Bq kg(-1), respectively. The obtained results and calculated values of radiation dose in the study area indicate that the relatively high background radioactivity levels.