* Corresponding author. Tel.: 9645444766 ; E-mail address: soniyasr04@gmail.com 2214-7853 © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of International Conference on Advances in Materials, Manufacturing and Applied Sciences Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Materials Today: Proceedings 16 (2019) 784–791 www.materialstoday.com/proceedings ICAMMAS17 Assessment Of Radiological Consequence Of Radioactivity In Monazite Beach Sand In South West Coastal Region In Southern India S.R. Soniya a* , S. Monica a , A.K Visnu Prasad a , P.J. Jojo a a Center for Advanced Research in Physical Sciences, Department of Physics,Fatima Mata National College (Autonomous), Kollam, Kerala 691001, India Abstract The natural radionuclide ( 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K) contents of sand samples at various locations in Sakthikulangara area in the south west coastal region of Kerala state have been determined using NaI(Tl) based gamma spectrometric measurement method and radiation hazard indices in the study area are evaluated. The specific activities of the radionuclides were found to vary from below detectable level to 32.38 BqKg -1 , 34.77 BqKg -1 to 229.30 BqKg -1 and 20.76 BqKg -1 to 88.39 BqKg -1 , respectively for 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K. The radium equivalent activity (Ra eq ) was quite less than the recommended limit of 370BqKg -1 . The radiological parameters such as internal and external hazard indices, absorbed dose rate, indoor and outdoor annual effective dose, alpha index and representative level index were also determined from the estimated value of the specific activity of 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of International Conference on Advances in Materials, Manufacturing and Applied Sciences Keywords: Gamma ray spectrometer; Specific Activity; Radiometric measurements; 1. Introduction Kerala state in the south west part of India, is separated from the rest of the peninsula by natural geographic boundaries. The 'Western Ghats' with their rich primeval forests having a high degree of rainfall, form the eastern boundary and extend from the north to Kanyakumari in the south. The entire western border is caressed by the Arabian Sea. Between these natural boundaries the narrow strip of land extending from Kasargode in the north to Parasala in the south lies. Costal tracts in the Kollam district of the state possesses one of the world class deposits of minerals sand. The heavy mineral sand deposits in Kollam contain an assemblage of Ilmenite, Rutile, Leucoxene, Monazite, Zircon and Sillimanite. Beach sand in the region has rich Monazite deposits along with other rare earth metals. It arises generally in minor isolated rock crystal. It has a hardness of 5.0 to 5.5 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness and is relatively dense, with density about 4.6 to 5.7 gcm -3 . Monazite is an important ore for thorium lanthanum, and cerium.