Airborne radiometric mapping for natural radiation assessment over okitipupa southeast belt of the bituminous sand field of Nigeria

Airborne radiometric data were used for natural radiation assessment with the view to assess its likely environmental and health impact, which is one of the major factors that may pose some dangers to both physical and biological components especially during the exploitation of bitumen and also use the assessment as a baseline study that could be useful in planning appropriate environmental management programs that will reduce the potential negative effect of exploiting the resources on the environment. To determine the radiation source effects of humans, exposure rate, absorbed dose rate and annual effective dose rate were computed. The results obtained over Okitipupa southeast belt bituminous sand field indicate that the average levels of natural background radiations are generally not considered harmful. The natural activity levels were not above average and the does appear to be well within recommended limits and norms for naturally occurring activity.