Natural radioactivity measurements in Pakistan--an overview

Humans have always been exposed throughout their period of existence to naturally occurring ionising radiation. Specifically, naturally occurring radionuclides are present in variable amounts in our environment. To assess radiological health hazards, naturally occurring radionuclides are being measured in soil, sand, marble, bricks etc throughout the world. In this regard, extensive data have been reported for Pakistan, which have been compiled and reviewed in this article. The majority of the reported articles are about monitoring of the radiological health hazards of naturally occurring radionuclides. In a few articles, use of the radionuclides has been reported for the exploration of uranium and thorium deposits. Most of the reported data have been obtained using a high purity germanium detector or a sodium iodide detector.