Assessment of background radiation levels in the southeast of Iran

Measuring background radiation (BR) is highly important from different perspectives, especially from that of human health. This study was conducted to measure BR in the southeast of Iran.

BR was measured in Hormozgan and Sistan-Bluchestan provinces using portable Environmental Radiation Meter Type 6-80 detector. The average value was used to calculate the absorbed dose rate and indoor annual effective dose (AED) from BR. In addition, excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) was evaluated.

The results showed that the maximum and minimum absorbed dose rates were 71.9 and 34.2 nGy.h-1 in Abomoosa and Minab in Hormozgan province and 90.0 and 47.8 nGy.h-1 in Zahedan and Chabahar in Sistan-Bluchestan province, respectively. Data indicated that these areas had a lower BR level compared with the worldwide level.  The ELCR from indoor AED was larger compared with the worldwide average of 0.29 × 10-3.

This study provided a reference for designing and developing specific regional surveys associated with the measurement of natural BR in the southeast of Iran.