'is study presents investigation of the exposure levels and the resulting radiological e.ect of radiation of a natural radioactivity on a population of one village of Burkina Faso called Villy. For this purpose, soil, water, and sorghum samples were collected. The samples collected were processed and analyzed by gamma ray spectrometry at the laboratory of the national authority of radiation protection (ARSN) for natural radioactivity characterisation. The average specificc activities of U-238,Th-232, and K-40 were found to be: 35.53, 2.38, and 162.85 Bq/kg for soil; 0.78, 1.16, and 310.53 Bq/kg for sorghum; and 0.16, 0.14, and <0.35 Bq.L−1 for water. The annual effective dose measured for U-238, Th-232, and K-40 are, respectively, included in the following ranges: 0.03–0.08 mSv/y, 0.28–0.68 μSv/y, and 10–30 nSv/y. Trough these results, the resulting average annual effective doses of these
three specific radionuclides were evaluated and are, respectively, 0.05 ± 0.02 mSv/y for soil, 0.38 ± 0.07 μSv/y for sorghum, and 20 ± 10 nSv/y for water. They were much lower than the annual dose limit of 1 mSv/y for the public proposed by the International Agency of Atomic Energy (IAEA). The calculated values for radium equivalent activity and external hazard indices for all samples studied were lower than the recommended limits of UNSCEAR. The results from the study indicated that the sorghum, soil, and water samples in Villy do not pose any signi5cant radiological hazard.

Radioactivity, Soil, Sorghum, and Water