Natural radioactivity concentrations in granite building materials that are commonly used in Iran have been surveyed by using a gamma-ray spectrometry system, using a high-purity germanium detector. Health hazards from gamma radiation doses due to granite and radon concentration have been calculated. The dose rate of exposure from granite building materials on humans is obtained as a result of an external exposure from gamma-emitting radionuclides in the granites. Another mode of exposure is from the inhalation of the decay products of (222)Ra and (220)Ra. The average concentrations of (232)Th, (226)Ra and (40)K were in the ranges of 6.5-172.2, 3.8-94.2 and 556.9-1539.2 Bq kg(-1), respectively. The radon exhalation rates have also been studied and values were in the range of 0.32 ± 0.01 to 7.86 ± 1.65 Bq m(-2) h(-1). For two models of standard living rooms (5.0 m × 4.0 m area; 2.8 m), the radon concentration (Ci) and the absorbed dose (D) rates were calculated and the results were found to be 10.64-29.32 Bq m(-3), 3.84-68.02 nGy h(-1) and 0.02-0.33 mSv y(-1) for Model 1, 10.07-15.38 Bq m(-3) and 2.29-39.99 nGy h(-1) for Model 2, respectively. According to our estimations, mechanical ventilation systems (λν = 0.5 h(-1)) in a room all granite samples would produce radon concentration <100 Bq m(-3).

Due to increasing concern about environmental radiological protection, specific radioactivity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K in different types of commonly used granite stone samples collected from the Tehran city of Iran have been determined by means of a high-resolution HPGe gamma-spectroscopy system. The activity concentrations of ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra and ⁴⁰K in the selected granite samples ranged from 18 to 178, 6 to 160 and 556 to 1539 Bq kg⁻¹, respectively. The radium equivalent activities (Ra_eq) are lower than the limit of 370 Bq kg⁻¹ set by NEA-OECD [Nuclear Energy Agency. Exposure to radiation from natural radioactivity in building materials. Report by NEA Group of Experts. OECD (1979)], except in two samples. The internal hazard indexes have been found well below the acceptable limit in most of the samples. Five samples of investigated commercial granite stones do not satisfy the safety criterion illustrated by UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. Exposure from natural sources of radiation. Report to the General Assembly (1993). Applying dose criteria recently recommended by the EC [European Commission Report on Radiological Protection Principles Concerning the Natural Radioactivity of Building Materials. Radiation Protection 112 (1999)] for superficial materials, all investigated samples meet the exemption dose limit of 0.3 mSv y⁻¹.