The present study reveals the distribution of terrestrial radionuclides (226Ra, 232Th and 40K) and heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Co) from soil samples of Una, Hamirpur and Kangra districts of Himachal Pradesh (India). The 226Ra, 232Th, 40K activity concentration in the studied region has been varied from 8 to 3593 Bq kg-1; 21-370 Bq kg-116; 62-7130 Bq kg-1 respectively. High disequilibrium factor (238U/226Ra) depicts that uranium constantly migrates from clay oxidizing zone and getting precipitated with enrichment towards south. An attempt has been made to correlate the distribution of these radionuclides and heavy metals with geology and rock type formation of Siwalik region. The concentration of Pb, Zn and Co was found higher than Indian average background value. Multiple radiological and pollution indices have been estimated for proper risk analysis in the studied region. The annual effective dose in studied region is lower than the recommended limit of 1.0 mSv a-1. The obtained geo-accumulation index and enrichment factor indicated that the sites located in the Hamirpur and Kangra regions were moderately contaminated with Pb and Co. The Nemerow pollution index and contamination security index suggested that almost 45% sites were slightly to moderately polluted. The non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks for both children and adults were within acceptable limits.
Keywords: Gamma radiation survey; Gamma spectrometry; Hazard indices; Radioactivity; Spatial mapping.
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