Journal of Clinical Oncology & Advanced Therapy

Abstract

There is an urgent need for comprehensive radiation monitoring in Nigeria's healthcare facilities due to the rapid increase in ionizing medical technologies. It critiques existing studies in developing countries for being one-dimensional (focusing solely on either indoor occupational or outdoor background exposure) and notes that the influence of building structures on radiation distribution is understudied in Sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, it presents the Benue South Senatorial District as an ideal, yet unexplored, location for an integrated dosimetric assessment, given its expanding healthcare infrastructure. This study aimed to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of environmental ionizing radiation dosimetry in selected hospitals in Benue South Senatorial District, Nigeria. A cross-sectional environmental dosimetric survey was executed across two purposively selected hospitals spanning the two Local Government Areas of Benue South District—Otukpo and Okpokwu. An in-situ measurement using a calibrated RAD-35 radiometer (SN: 260310122, Shandong Vict Equipment Ltd) was used to determine the radiation level for both indoor and outdoor. A total of 280 sampling locations were surveyed across the two Local Government Areas. The average values for indoor and outdoor BIR were taken at each of the wards within the hospital, and the measurements were used to evaluate the radiological health hazards and radiation effective doses to different body organs. The results showed that the total Dose Rates, the Total Annual Equivalent Dose, total Annual Effective Dose Equivalent and the total Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk are: 0.068±0.049 (μSv/h) and 0.077±0.016 (μSv/h), 0.478±0.340 mSv/y and 0.045±0.016 mSv/y, 0.335±0.238 mSv/y and 0.083±0.003 mSv/y, 1.732±0.453 and 0.045±0.054 respectively for the two hospitals. Organ dosimetry revealed testes received the highest dose of 0.701 mSv/y, while the liver received the lowest dose of 0.395 mSv/y across the hospitals. The finding indicated that the Annual Effective Dose Equivalents remained within ICRP’s permissible limits of 1.0 mSv/y for general public exposure, and organ-specific effective doses were below recommended limits. However, the calculated Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk (indoors and outdoors) exceeded the world permissible limit of 0.29×10-3. While this elevated value does not pose an immediate radiological health threat, continuous exposure over a long time may present a significant risk to the occupational workers and population.