Radioactivity analysis of commonly available building and flooring material in Kerala, India

Building materials are primary sources of indoor gamma radiation. Therefore, we have made a detailed study of building materials which are being used extensively in the region. Primordial radionuclides namely uranium (238U), Thorium (232Th) and potassium (40K) were studied in the building materials. As of the results acquired, we can arrive at the following inferences: We have estimated specific activities of radionuclides, the radium equivalent and radiological risk parameters resulting from the gamma originating from building materials. The highest Radium equivalent activity was obtained for red clay brick and the minimum value obtained was for M-sand. M-sand is processed sand being used widely now a days in the region. Most of the building materials were found to have very low levels of Radium. As of the results we obtained, none of the building materials were found to pose any notable radiological health hazard.