Assessing cancer risk due to exposure to radionuclides in soil dust in mining areas of South Africa.

Despite the environmental significance of airborne particulates generated from mine tailings, there is limited information on exposure of people living in the neighbourhoods adjacent to such sites. The main objective of the study was to assess cancer risk due to enhanced radionuclides present in dust samples and to evaluate the exposure risk of populations living in three mining areas in the Free State and West Rand in South Africa. Soil and dust samples were collected between January 2016 and March 2018 in different seasons for determination of the level of naturally occurring radioactive materials in the samples.

Assessment of radiation hazards from natural radionuclide activity in quarry sites and surrounding soils in Osun State, Southwest Nigeria.

This study assessed the radioactivity levels of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs), specifically K, Th, and U, in quarry products and surrounding soils from four major commercial quarry sites in Osun State, Nigeria, using gamma spectroscopic technique. The average activity concentrations of K, Th, and U in the quarry products are 332.55 ± 28.

Radiological safety assessment of sugar consumption in South Africa-a study of Ra, Ra, and K levels.

Human exposure to natural radionuclides in the environment primarily occurs through ingestion of foodstuffs, highlighting the importance of continuous monitoring of radionuclide levels in foodstuffs by ensuring consumer safety and compliance with regulatory standards. Using gamma spectrometry, this study investigates activity concentration levels of Ra, Ra, and K, and associated radiological health risks, in 14 commonly available sugar brands in South Africa. The activity concentration levels of these natural radionuclides ranged from 2.

Anthropogenic Land Use and Land Cover Change as Potential Drivers of Sediment Sources in the Upper Crocodile River, North West Province, South Africa.

In this study, we investigated the accelerating pace of anthropogenic land use and land cover change (LULCC) disturbance, which has generated enormous impacts on the Crocodile River. Spot images from 1996, 2009 and 2022 were used to generate the land use maps and quantify the changes. A supervised classification with the maximum likelihood classifier was used to classify the images.

Rare earth elements in uranium ore deposits from Namibia: A nuclear forensics tool.

Rare earth elements (REE) concentrations and pattern remains largely unchanged during the process of milling and can thus provide strong evidence of the origin of the material. The aim of this study was to determine the rare earth elements in uranium ore deposits as a nuclear forensics tool. Uranium ore from three mines were collected and analyzed using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to determine the concentrations of rare earth elements.

Modelling the dynamics of the cancer risk due to potentially toxic elements in agricultural soils, in the upper Crocodile River catchment, North-West province, South Africa.

Contaminated agricultural soil with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) poses a threat to food safety and can adversely affect human health. This study evaluates the potential health risk caused by PTEs contamination in cultivated soils and the possible related health effect. Sixty-four (64) soil samples from cultivated soils before crop cultivation and post-crop were harvested and twenty-four (24) soil samples from a natural game reserve park were collected and.

Replacement of Soybean Meal with Heat-Treated Canola Meal in Finishing Diets of Meatmaster Lambs: Physiological and Meat Quality Responses.

The study investigated whether heat treatment (190 °C for 90 min) could improve the quality of expeller canola meal (CM) protein in finishing diets of Meatmaster lambs. Five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets were formulated by partially (50%) or completely replacing SBM as the major protein source with untreated or heat-treated CM in a commercial lamb finishing diet. Diets were randomly allocated to 40 lambs (24.

Analysis of reaction cross-section production in neutron induced fission reactions on uranium isotope using computer code COMPLET.

This study provides current evidence about cross-section production processes in the theoretical and experimental results of neutron induced reaction of uranium isotope on projectile energy range of 1-100 MeV in order to improve the reliability of nuclear stimulation. In such fission reactions of U within nuclear reactors, much amount of energy would be released as a product that able to satisfy the needs of energy to the world wide without polluting processes as compared to other sources. The main objective of this work is to transform a related knowledge in the neutron-induced fission reactions on U through describing, analyzing and interpreting the theoretical results of the cross sections obtained from computer code COMPLET by comparing with the experimental data obtained from EXFOR.

Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements as Non-Point Sources of Contamination in the Upper Crocodile Catchment Area, North-West Province, South Africa.

The concentration of potential toxic elements (PTEs) in the Upper Crocodile river catchment area in North-west Province, South Africa, was investigated. Water and sediment samples were collected among different land uses in the upper Crocodile River catchment area and analysed using inductively-coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Several guidelines were used to gauge the level of contamination and possible toxic effect of PTEs.

Gas chemical adsorption characterization of lanthanide hexafluoroacetylacetonates.

Newly-established adsorption enthalpy and entropy values of 12 lanthanide hexafluoroacetylacetonates, denoted Ln[hfac], along with the experimental and theoretical methodology used to obtain these values, are presented for the first time. The results of this work can be used in conjunction with theoretical modeling techniques to optimize a large-scale gas-phase separation experiment using isothermal chromatography. The results to date indicate average adsorption enthalpy and entropy values of the 12 Ln[hfac] complexes ranging from -33 to -139 kJ/mol K and -299 to -557 J/mol, respectively.

Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Soils from Witwatersrand Gold Mining Basin, South Africa.

The study evaluates the health risk caused by heavy metals to the inhabitants of a gold mining area. In this study, 56 soil samples from five mine tailings and 17 from two mine villages were collected and analyzed for Asernic (As), Lead (Pb), Mercury (Hg), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Cobalt (Co), Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu) and Zinc (Zn) using ICP-MS. Measured concentrations of these heavy metals were then used to calculate the health risk for adults and children.

Modelling of Radiological Health Risks from Gold Mine Tailings in Wonderfonteinspruit Catchment Area, South Africa.

Mining is one of the major causes of elevation of naturally-occurring radionuclide material (NORM) concentrations on the Earth's surface. The aim of this study was to evaluate the human risk associated with exposure to NORMs in soils from mine tailings around a gold mine. A broad-energy germanium detector was used to measure activity concentrations of these NORMs in 66 soil samples (56 from five mine tailings and 10 from the control area).

An Assessment of Radiological Hazards from Gold Mine Tailings in the Province of Gauteng in South Africa.

Radiological hazards associated with exposure to Naturally Occurring Radionuclides Materials from gold mine tailings in the province of Gauteng in South Africa were evaluated. A comparison was made with soil samples from a control area. In this study, gamma spectroscopy was used to measure the activity concentrations of these radionuclides in 56 soil samples from the mine tailings and 10 soil samples from the control area.

Transfer Rates of ²³⁸U and ²³²Th for E. globulus, A. mearnsii, H. filipendula and Hazardous Effects of the Usage of Medicinal Plants From Around Gold Mine Dump Environs.

Medicinal plant consumption can be a source of human exposure to radioactive elements such as (238)U and (232)Th, which can lead to internal radiation doses. The uptake of (238)U and (232)Th from soils to the leaf samples of three different medicinal plant species (Eucalyptus globulus, Acacia mearnsii and Hyparrhenia filipendula) from the purlieu of the Princess gold mine dump, an abandoned contaminated tailings storage site (TSS), located at longitude 27°55'00″E and latitude 26°09'30″S in Davidsonville (Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, South Africa) was measured. This was done using ICP-MS spectrometry and substantial differences were observed in the soil-plant transfer factor (TF) values between these radionuclides.

Design and construction of microclimate monitoring system.

A portable and user-friendly weather monitoring system based on the PIC16F876 microcontroller is described. This instrument measures three parameters: temperature in the range from -10 to +70 degrees C within +/-1 degrees C using an LM335 temperature sensor, wind speed from 0 to 10 m/s within +/-0.1 m/s using a heated bead thermistor, and solar radiation from 0 to 1000 W/m(2) within +/-10 W/m(2) using a solar cell.