Granite commonly contains high concentrations of uranium, with subsequent high exhalation of radon gas. The geology of the West Coast Peninsula of South Africa is dominated by granite. No measurements of radon gas has, however, been undertaken in, or near the towns of the peninsula and a recent article predicted potentially high indoor radon concentrations in the town of Saldanha. This article sets out to validate the predicted results by measuring the indoor radon concentration for the two largest settlements on the West Coast Peninsula: Vredenburg and Saldanha. Measurements were conducted during the summer months with houses typically being more open due to the warm weather. The data was found to exhibit lognormal behavior, with the I-type granite formation of Vredenburg yielding a higher indoor radon concentration than the ignimbrite formation of Saldanha. The average indoor radon concentration of Vredenburg was 34% higher than that of Saldanha, with 58.7 Bq/m³ and 38.6 Bq/m³ respectively.

The soft tissues of mussels are often used as the main food source, especially in coastal areas. Neutron Activation Analysis was used to measure the content of 24 macro- and microelements in the soft tissues and 18 elements in the shells of selected sets of mussels of the species Mytilus galloprovincialis. The mussels were collected in 8 polluted and 4 pristine zones, which included Namibia, the west and east coasts of South Africa, and Mozambique. According to factor analysis Co, Ni, Zn, As, Se, Br, I, Sb could have anthropogenic origin. The concentrations of elements such as Cr, As, Se and partly Zn at polluted stations were above the maximum permissible levels for seafood. The concentrations of Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Sb, Cs, Th, U in shells and soft tissues of the same mussels were at the close levels. Elements such as Al, Cr, Co, As (partly Zn, Se, and I) are considered to be harmful to human health at the levels of mussels consumption of 200 g/week per person and lower in such zones as Swakopmund, East London, Port Shepstone, Richards Bay, Xai-Xai according to calculated risk quotients and target hazard indices.