Annual Effective Dose Equivalent and Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk from Measured Indoor Background Ionizing Radiation in Pharmacy, Radiotherapy/Oncology and Radiology Departments of Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, Gombe State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study calculated the excess lifetime cancer risk and annual effective dose equivalent in the radiology, radiation, and pharmacy departments of the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe. The radiation levels were measured using a RADOS 200 survey meter. A handheld GPS was used to pinpoint several locations within each department, with the device held at a height of one meter. For the aforementioned departments, the average annual effective dose equivalent was calculated as 0.4325, 0.3787, and 0.4370 mSv/y, respectively. The average excess lifetime cancer risk values in the pharmacy, radiotherapy/oncology, and radiology departments were found to be  respectively. In conclusion, the results obtained in this study show that the average annual effective dose equivalent for the sampled location complies with the 1 mSv/y maximum dose limit for the public, as recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). However, the resulting average excess lifetime cancer risk is  which is higher than the limit of .