Measurements of surface air 7Be concentrations in Saudi Arabia

N Alkhomashi; Ibrahim F Al-Hamarneh; Mohammed Alkhorayef; Abdelmoneim Sulieman; Rashed Almsulm; Ahmed Alyousif; Abdullah S Alsalamah; Yousif A Alssalim; Walied Alotibi

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109305

Measurements of surface air ⁷Be concentrations in Saudi Arabia

Appl Radiat Isot. 2020 Nov:165:109305. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109305. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

Authors

N Alkhomashi¹, Ibrahim F Al-Hamarneh², Mohammed Alkhorayef³, Abdelmoneim Sulieman⁴, Rashed Almsulm⁵, Ahmed Alyousif⁵, Abdullah S Alsalamah⁵, Yousif A Alssalim⁵, Walied Alotibi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Nuclear Science Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh, 11442, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: khomashi@kacst.edu.sa.
² Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Al-Balqa Applied University, Salt, 19117, Jordan; Department of Physics, College of Science, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh, 11623, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Radiological Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, P.O Box 10219 Riyadh 11433, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Radiology and Medical Imaging Department, P.O.Box 422, Alkharj 11942, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Nuclear Science Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh, 11442, Saudi Arabia.

PMID: 32768927
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109305

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to identify the atmospheric ⁷Be concentrations in 130 surface air samples collected from three stations located in Riyadh, Haql and Khafji cities in Saudi Arabia between November 2012 and April 2014. Monthly variations as well as seasonal patterns of ⁷Be were studied using a medium-volume air sampler and a gamma spectroscopy system equipped with a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector. ⁷Be exhibited one maximum specific activity in summer and one minimum in winter with average monthly concentrations of 12.4 ± 0.9, 15.4 ± 1.2, and 18.0 ± 1.3 mBq m^-3 in Riyadh, Haql and Khafji, respectively. Overall, the average ⁷Be concentration in the three stations was 12.9 ± 1.0 mBq m^-3, whereas the maximum value of 29.5 mBq m^-3 was registered in Khafji city in August 2013. Besides ⁷Be, measurements indicate observations of ⁴⁰ K, ¹³⁷Cs, ²²⁶Ra radionuclides in surface air samples collected from the three stations. ⁴⁰ K showed measurable concentrations, whereas the concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs and ²²⁶Ra were only detected in a limited number of samples.

Keywords: (7)Be; Saudi Arabia; Specific activity concentrations; Surface air.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants, Radioactive / analysis*
Beryllium / analysis*
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Limit of Detection
Saudi Arabia

Substances

Air Pollutants, Radioactive
Beryllium