Assessment of radiological hazards in edible plants from a gold mine in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Assessment of radiological hazards in edible plants from a gold mine in Gauteng Province, South Africa | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Assessment of radiological hazards in edible plants from a gold mine in Gauteng Province, South Africa Caspah Kamunda, Tichakunda Valentine Chabata, Mattie Akuunda This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8202254/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background This study assessed the potential health risks from Naturally Occurring Radionuclide Materials (NORMs) in plants collected near a gold mining site in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Methods Eleven plant samples from the mining area and a control site were analyzed using a high-resolution BEGe gamma detector to measure activity concentrations of uranium-238 (²³⁸U), thorium-232 (²³²Th), and potassium-40 (⁴⁰K). Results Plants from the mining area showed slightly higher radionuclide levels (17.4 ± 3.1 Bq/kg for ²³⁸U, 19.7 ± 1.6 Bq/kg for ²³²Th, and 146.7 ± 9.2 Bq/kg for ⁴⁰K) compared with control samples (12.1 ± 1.5, 15.6 ± 1.0, and 125.7 ± 4.8 Bq/kg, respectively). However, all values remained below global averages. The calculated radium equivalent activity (Raeq) was also modest (56.8 ± 4.0 Bq/kg in the mining area vs. 44.1 ± 2.1 Bq/kg in the control area). Estimated radiation exposure indicators—including Annual Effective Dose Equivalent for terrestrial gamma radiation (0.03 mSv/year), ingestion dose (1.24×10⁻³ mSv/year), and external and internal hazard indices (both 0.2)—were all well within internationally accepted safety limits. Conclusion Overall, the radionuclide levels in plants surrounding the mining site pose no significant radiological risk to the public. Environmental Engineering Toxicology Nuclear Physics Radionuclides Hazard index Gamma spectroscopy Annual Effective Dose Equivalent Gold mine Edible plants Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Africa\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"University of Namibia","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Radionuclides, Hazard index, Gamma spectroscopy, Annual Effective Dose Equivalent, Gold mine, Edible plants","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8202254/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8202254/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study assessed the potential health risks from Naturally Occurring Radionuclide Materials (NORMs) in plants collected near a gold mining site in Gauteng Province, South Africa.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eEleven plant samples from the mining area and a control site were analyzed using a high-resolution BEGe gamma detector to measure activity concentrations of uranium-238 (\u0026sup2;\u0026sup3;⁸U), thorium-232 (\u0026sup2;\u0026sup3;\u0026sup2;Th), and potassium-40 (⁴⁰K).\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlants from the mining area showed slightly higher radionuclide levels (17.4\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;3.1 Bq/kg for \u0026sup2;\u0026sup3;⁸U, 19.7\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.6 Bq/kg for \u0026sup2;\u0026sup3;\u0026sup2;Th, and 146.7\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;9.2 Bq/kg for ⁴⁰K) compared with control samples (12.1\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.5, 15.6\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.0, and 125.7\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;4.8 Bq/kg, respectively). However, all values remained below global averages. The calculated radium equivalent activity (Raeq) was also modest (56.8\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;4.0 Bq/kg in the mining area vs. 44.1\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.1 Bq/kg in the control area). Estimated radiation exposure indicators\u0026mdash;including Annual Effective Dose Equivalent for terrestrial gamma radiation (0.03 mSv/year), ingestion dose (1.24\u0026times;10⁻\u0026sup3; mSv/year), and external and internal hazard indices (both 0.2)\u0026mdash;were all well within internationally accepted safety limits.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eOverall, the radionuclide levels in plants surrounding the mining site pose no significant radiological risk to the public.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Assessment of radiological hazards in edible plants from a gold mine in Gauteng Province, South Africa","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-26 08:03:25","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8202254/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"3afd5b38-2ccf-4b74-8249-eed381207dde","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 26th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":58575232,"name":"Environmental Engineering"},{"id":58575233,"name":"Toxicology"},{"id":58575234,"name":"Nuclear Physics"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-26T08:03:25+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-26 08:03:25","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8202254","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8202254","identity":"rs-8202254","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}