Application of RESRAD and ERICA tools to estimate dose and cancer risk for artisanal gold mining in Nigeria

• Published in: Journal of environmental radioactivity Vol. 251-252; p. 106932
• Main Authors: S, Bello, Garba, N.N., Muhammad, B.G., J, Simon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2022
• Subjects: Cancer risk; Effective dose; ERICA; Mining; RESRAD; Mining; ERICA; Effective dose; RESRAD; Cancer risk
• ISSN: 0265-931X; 1879-1700
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2022.106932

Despite the fact that disruption of the environment through mining of minerals poses severe radiological hazards, there is a dearth of radiological information from gold mining sites in Nigeria. In this study, state-of- the-art computational tools - RESRAD ONSITE, RESRAD OFFSITE and ERICA were applied to a typical representative artisanal goldmining area for a more comprehensive evaluation of radiological risks associated with artisanal gold mining in Nigeria. The estimated doses received by an offsite receptor is within the radiation basic safety limit, while for onsite receptor it is greater than the basic radiation safety limit. It was observed that onsite dwellers of the artisanal goldmining areas may suffer high cancer burden when compared with the US EPA acceptable levels. For non-human biota, the hazard quotient was greater than unity and the total dose rate per organism was greater than the screening dose rate of 10μGy h−1. It was observed that 232Th and 226Ra were the main contributors to the total dose and the pathways that contributed most to the dose were; external exposure (via direct and airborne radiation from soil and Radon) as well as water independent plant, meat and milk consumption. Therefore, monitoring food production will lead to an informed decision making and risk communication towards sustainable mining will contribute in minimizing the level of the anticipated risks as low as reasonably achievable. •There is a dearth of radiological information from artisanal gold mining sites in Nigeria.•The estimated doses received by offsite receptors is within the radiation basic safety limit.•The estimated doses received by onsite receptors is greater than the basic radiation safety limit.•Non-human biota are subjected to radiation hazards in the artisanal goldmining areas in Nigeria.