River sand is an environmental component that is always used as a building material in India and hence the present study, activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K have been measured in sand samples collected from Ponnai river, Tamil Nadu using a high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer consisting of high-purity germanium detector. Calculated mean specific activity is 31, 84 and 416 Bq kg-1 for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K, respectively. These results reveal that 226Ra was found to be less than the world average value of 33 Bq kg-1 whereas 232Th and 40K were higher than the global mean value of 30 and 400 Bq kg-1, respectively. In order to assess the internal dose to population a standard index radium equivalent activity (Raeq) is calculated for these samples. Based on the obtained results, it is seen that these sand samples do not pose significant health hazards to the inhabitants of the houses constructed.
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