An investigation was conducted to determine radon concentrations, radon exhalation rate, and potential radiological hazard parameters associated with cement collected from five factories in Sulaymaniyah city, Kurdistan region, Iraq. Using solid-state nuclear track detectors such as CR39, the samples were analyzed by etching processes. The average radon concentration, radium concentration, and radon exhalation rate were 138.16 \({\text{Bq}}\,{\text{m}}^{ - 3}\) , 0.254 \({\text{Bq}}\,{\text{kg}}^{ - 1}\) , and 0.317 \({\text{Bq}}\,{\text{m}}^{ - 2} \,{\text{h}}^{ - 1}\) , respectively. In sample 14, radon concentrations were within the suggested range of 200–600 \({\text{Bq}}\,{\text{m}}^{ - 3}\) , and the radon exhalation rate was well below the global average of 57.600 \({\text{Bq}}\,{\text{m}}^{ - 2} \,{\text{h}}^{ - 1}\) . In addition, parameters related to potential radiological hazards were calculated for cement samples, the average annual effective dose indoor and outdoor were 3.49 and 1.31 \({\text{mSv}}\,{\text{y}}^{ - 1}\) , so this study's value was within the global average limitations (1–5 \({\text{mSv}}\,{\text{y}}^{ - 1}\) ). Also, the excess lifetime cancer risk indoor and outdoor were 12.5 × 10−3 and 4.69 × 10−3 greater than the world value of 0.29 × 10−3.
