Natural radioactivity of soil in the Baghdad governorate

The radioactive field is important for the human health due to the biologic impact that the radiation might cause (e.g., cancer induction), so it must be studied to see the changes in the doses of human exposure. In this study, 114 soil samples were collected from different locations in residential areas within the Baghdad governorate. The specific gamma-ray activity of the naturally occurring radionuclides U-238, Th-232 and K-40 for soil samples was measured spectroscopically using a NaI(Tl) detector. The results of the Karkh side show that the average value of specific activity of terrestrial gamma radiation (U-238, Th-232 and K-40) was (16.5 +/- 0.9) Bq/kg, (9.7 +/- 0.4) Bq/kg and (368 +/- 11) Bq/kg, respectively. The results of the Rasafa side show that the average value of the specific activity of U-238, Th-232 and K-40 in samples of the present study were (17.4 +/- 1.0) Bq/kg, (9.1 +/- 0.3) Bq/k and (381 +/- 22) Bq/kg, respectively. The results show that across the area, the natural radioactivity lies within the acceptable level as indicated by UNSCEAR 2008. It is subjected to the natural spatial averaging of the estimations, with the except for the sample (R3) which needs future study. GIS tools were used to map the specific activity for all samples in this study, which were divided into two groups: Karkh side and Rasafa side for simplified results.