Radiological Impact of Phosphogypsum Application in Agriculture

Phosphogypsum (PG) contains radionuclides from (238)U and (232)Th decay series. Due to the presence of these radionuclides, many countries restricted the use of PG in agriculture, however there is not such restriction in Brazil. The main objective of this work was to evaluate the impact of PG application on (226)Ra ((238)U) and (228)Ra ((232)Th) concentrations in soil. Gamma-spectrometry was carried out using HPGe detector. No increment of (226)Ra and (228)Ra was observed for increasing PG doses. Average values found for (226)Ra and Ra were respectively 37 Bq kg(-1) and 57 Bq kg(-1). The results showed that the increasing PG doses in the specific conditions of the experiment did not cause a significant increment of radionuclides.