Clay Mineral: Radiological Characterization
- Centro Universitario Nove de Julho, R: Diamantina, 602-Vila Maria, CEP: 02117-0101, Sao Paulo (Brazil)
- Centro de Metrologia das Radiacoes-Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 2242-Cidade Universitaria-CEP 05508 000 Sao Paulo-Brazil (Brazil)
Since the early days, clays have been used for therapeutic purposes. Nowadays, most minerals applied as anti-inflammatory, pharmaceutics and cosmetic are the clay minerals that are used as the active ingredient or, as the excipient, in formulations. Although their large use, few information is available in literature on the content of the radionuclide concentrations of uranium and thorium natural series and {sup 40}K in these clay minerals.The objective of this work is to determine the concentrations of {sup 238}U, {sup 232}Th, {sup 226}Ra, {sup 228}Ra, {sup 210}Pb and {sup 40}K in commercial samples of clay minerals used for pharmaceutical or cosmetic purposes. Two kinds of clays samples were obtained in pharmacies, named green clay and white clay.Measurement for the determination of {sup 238}U and {sup 232}Th activity concentration was made by alpha spectrometry and gamma spectrometry was used for {sup 226}Ra, {sup 228}Ra, {sup 210}Pb and {sup 40}K determination. Some physical-chemical parameters were also determined as organic carbon and pH. The average activity concentration obtained was 906{+-}340 Bq kg{sup -1} for {sup 40}K, 40{+-}9 Bq kg{sup -1} for {sup 226}Ra, 75{+-}9 Bq kg{sup -1} for {sup 228}Ra, 197{+-}38 Bq kg{sup -1} for {sup 210}Pb, 51{+-}26 Bq kg{sup -1} for {sup 238}U and 55{+-}24 Bq kg{sup -1} for {sup 232}Th, considering both kinds of clay.
- OSTI ID:
- 21152496
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1034, Issue 1; Conference: NRE-VIII: 8. International symposium on the natural radiation environment, Buzios, RJ (Brazil), 7-12 Oct 2007; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2991271; (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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