Radioactivity and metals content of beach sands from the Sicily region, Southern Italy

Autori

  • Francesco Caridi Università degli Studi di Messina, Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina
  • Francesco Gregorio Università degli Studi di Messina, Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina
  • Giuseppe Paladini Università degli Studi di Messina, Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina
  • Stefania Lanza Università degli Studi di Messina, Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina
  • Alberto Belvedere Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente della Calabria (ARPACal) - Dipartimento di Reggio Calabria, Via Troncovito SNC, 89135 Reggio Calabria
  • Santina Marguccio Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente della Calabria (ARPACal) - Dipartimento di Reggio Calabria, Via Troncovito SNC, 89135 Reggio Calabria
  • Maurizio D'Agostino Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente della Calabria (ARPACal) - Dipartimento di Reggio Calabria, Via Troncovito SNC, 89135 Reggio Calabria
  • Maurizio Messina Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente della Calabria (ARPACal) - Dipartimento di Reggio Calabria, Via Troncovito SNC, 89135 Reggio Calabria
  • Domenico Majolino Università degli Studi di Messina, Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina
  • Valentina Venuti Università degli Studi di Messina, Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1478/AAPP.1031A1

Parole chiave:

Radioactivity, Radiological risk, Metals, Pollution, Sand

Abstract

This paper reports an investigation aimed at evaluating the radioactivity and metals content of beach sands from the Sicily region, Southern Italy. The specific activity of natural (226Ra, 232Th and 40K) and anthropogenic (137Cs) radionuclides was assessed through High Purity Germanium (HPGe) gamma-ray spectrometry. Radiological hazard indices, i.e. absorbed gamma dose rate (D), annual effective dose equivalent outdoor (AEDEout) and excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR), were thus calculated in order to estimate any possible radiological risk for the population that uses to spend summer holidays on this renowned tourist destination. Furthermore, Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) measurements were conducted for the quantitative elemental analysis of the investigated sands, in order to determine any possible chemical pollution by metals. To this aim, different indices such as geo-accumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor (CF) and pollution load index (PLI) were calculated with the aim to assess the level of toxicity imposed on the ecosystem by the detected metals. It is noteworthy that the used approach could be applied, in principle, not only for the assessment of the radiological and chemical risk due to the occurrence of potentially harmful elements in a wide range of samples of special environmental interest, but also as guideline for investigations focused on the monitoring of the environmental quality.

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Pubblicato

2025-02-10

Fascicolo

V. 103 N. 1 (2025)

Sezione

Articoli

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