A comprehensive analysis of health risk due to natural outdoor gamma radiation in southeast Haryana, India

A systematic study of background radiation in southeast Haryana, India, i.e. the Jhajjar, Sonipat and Rohtak districts, was initiated to establish reliable baseline data on the background radiation level of the region. Worldwide many areas have been found with high background gamma radiation, leading to several types of disorders in human beings. So the present study was carried out as a precautionary step. There are two natural sources Isotopes of heavy elements and their decay products present in the Earth's crust are the major sources of terrestrial radiation. A radiation survey meter was used for the analysis of gamma radiation. In total, 50 locations were chosen for the survey. Gamma radiation showed variation from 82 to 184 nSv/h, with the mean value of 131.64 +/- 5.56 nSv/h. An independent t-test at a significance level of 5% was applied for comparison. Annual effective dose and excess lifetime cancer risk were computed to determine the number of cancer cases due to outdoor radiation.