Determination and Comparative analyses of Radionuclide Concentration Levels of some Imported and Local bathing Soaps Used in Nigeria

Abstract

In this paper, we investigated the concentration of natural radionuclide levels of five imported bathing soaps in Nigeria and five local soaps.  The specific activities of 40K, 238U and 232Th, of both were determined using gamma-ray spectroscopy. Calculations of radiological parameters were made to estimate associated radiation hazards in both imported and local soaps for comparative study. The activity concentrations in the imported soap samples ranged from 78  with corresponding mean concentration of 154 Bq/kg for 40K, 238U and 232Th respectively. The activity concentration in the local soap samples ranged with corresponding mean activity concentration of  40K, 238U and 232Th respectively. The radium equivalent activities in the imported soap samples ranged from (9.5) Bq//kg with a mean of 174.9 Bq/kg while for local soap samples, the radium equivalent activities ranged from (93.1) Bq/kg with a mean of 134.7 Bq/kq. The mean external hazard index in the imported soap samples was 0.5 and 0.4 in the local soap samples.