Computational dose evaluation on children exposed to natural radioactivity from granitic rocks used as architectural materials

Considering the higher radiosensitivity of children in comparison to adults, studies related to
children ’s exposure to ionising radiation have been long considered of relevance. For this study,
the MCNPX2.7.0 Monte Carlo code and four paediatric voxel computational anthropomorphic phantoms, of
both genders and aged 5 and 10 years, were used to simulate scenarios, where children are exposed to
natural radiation emitted by sources in the ground by radionuclides of 40 K and of 232 Th and 238 U
radioactive series. These elements are part of the composition of ten different types of ornamental
rocks obtained from three regions of Brazil, and used as architectural material for flooring of
houses. The virtual paediatric anthropomorphic phantoms were positioned in a room with dimensions of
(4.0 × 5.0 × 2.8) m 3 filled with atmospheric air and a 3 cm thick granitic floor acting as a
uniformly distributed planar gamma radiation source. The walls of ...

Source: Journal of Radiological Protection - January 20, 2022 Category: Physics Authors: William S Santos, Lucio Pereira Neves, Walmir Belinato, Maria R Soares, Jo ão V B Valença and Ana P Perini Source Type: research