Estimation of terrestrial air-absorbed dose rate from the data of regional geochemistry database

This paper presents an estimation of air-absorbed dose rate from the data of K2O, U and Th content from Chinese regional geochemical database. A total of 421 group original data of combined samples in Zhongshan City (ZSC), Guangdong Province and south China were extracted from the national geochemical database. Estimated average value of air-absorbed dose rate is 139.4 nGy h(-1) in the granite area and 73.7 nGy h(-1) in the sedimentary area. The level of air-absorbed dose rate is closely related with the surface lithology. Estimated mean air-absorbed dose rate approximates to the measured average value by a portable plastic scintillator dosemeter in Zhuhai City were bordered with ZSC. The results show that the pre-evaluation of ionizing radiation level using regional geochemical data is feasible.