Open Access JEP Radiological Hazards for Marble and Granite Used at Shak El Thouban Industrial Zone in Egypt

Copyright © 2013 Amany T. Sroor et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In accor-dance of the Creative Commons Attribution License all Copyrights © 2013 are reserved for SCIRP and the owner of the intellectual property Amany T. Sroor et al. All Copyright © 2013 are guarded by law and by SCIRP as a guardian. The background level of radiation in the natural environment surrounds us at all times. Levels of natural occurring ra-dioactivity in marble and granite used at Shak El Thouban industrial zone in Cairo, Egypt have been investigated using HPGe detector through gamma-ray spectrometry. The activity concentration of radionuclides in the 238U-, 232Th-series and 40K has been determined. The average activity concentration of 238U, 232Th and 40K for marble samples was 23.77 Bq/kg ranged from (10.91 to 45.4), 10.75 Bq/kg ranged from (5.46 to 23.61) and 520.43 Bq/kg ranged from (382.30 to 1132.41), respectively. The 238U, 232Th and 40K activity concentration for granite samples were 54.31 Bq/kg ranged from (12.04 to 106.34), 113.57 Bq/kg ranged from (23.91 to 270.36) and 7867.51 Bq/kg ranged from (2017.60 to 11436.91), respectively. Concerning the radiological risk, the radium equivalent activity, external and internal radiation hazard indices, the radiation level index and absorbed dose rate were evaluated. The mass exhalation rates of 222Rn and emanation coefficient have been also calculated. The mass exhalation rate of radon was found to be from 14.86 t