Investigation of Cs-137 in the environmental soil segments of the Peshawar and Nowshera districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Background: Radioactive contamination in soil arises due to various activities of human being, such as nuclear energy generation, use of radioisotopes in industrial applications, science, technology, medicine and release of radiation in nuclear weapon tests. Materials and Methods: The two districts (Peshawar and Nowshera) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan were selected for the study of anthropogenic Cs-137 assessment. A total of 102 soil samples were collected from different locations of these two districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Results: The activity concentration of Cs-137 was determined by gamma ray spectrometry using a high purity germanium detector coupled with a PC. The highest values for Peshawar and Nowshera found were 44.1 ± 4.6 Bq/kg and 27.9 ± 4.3 Bq/kg, respectively. Conclusion: The presence of Cs-137 shows that the areas under study have gained some fallout, however, the activity concentrations of Cs-137 found in the surveyed area were nominal and do not pose any potential health hazard to human beings.