Radioactivity in Building Materials: An Analytical Review

Building Materials such as stone, bricks and decorative rock among others added to concrete, may contain natural radioelements such as potassium (40K) uranium (238U), and thorium (232Th). The radiation released from such materials depends on the type of material but is usually very low. The present study analyzes the current knowledge about radioactivity in building materials using a bibliometric tool and calculates the long-term variations of external and internal dose residents are exposed to because of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in a standard room in thirteen different countries around the world using a computer code RESRAD BUILD. The bibliometric analysis showed that the research studies focus is on assessing the radiation levels and doses as well as potential risks to human health while it was noticed a lack of studies related to mitigation and remediation processes. The simulations carried out using RESRAD BUILD showed that outdoor and indoor exposure to radiation displays low variations over the average lifetime of 70 years. The inhalation doses show values more significant over the 70 years in Nigeria, followed by Australia, Finland, and the other 10 countries. The outdoor doses were more important in Finland, Nigeria and Cuba. These observed variations among countries shed light on the importance of considering each country's geographical location and geological characteristics while establishing norms and guidelines related to emitted radiation limits from building materials.