Effect of gender and occupations on uranium concentration in human blood and soil samples collected from Babylon, Iraq

Abstract Uranium concentrations of human blood and soil samples have been studied at different ages and occupations in Babylon, Iraq. The technique of nuclear track detectors CR 39 with nuclear fission track analysis has been used to determine the uranium concentrations in this study. Results have shown that the concentrations of uranium ranged from 0.56 ± 0.06 to 1.24 ± 0.29 ppb with an average of 0.83 ± 0.18 ppb in blood samples. On the other hand, the concentrations of uranium in soil samples ranged from 0.93 ± 0.20 to 2.59 ± 0.15 ppm with an average of 1.72 ± 0.19 ppm. Moreover, the highest averages of concentration have been found in the city center of Babylon, reaching 1.09 ± 0.22 ppb and 2.10 ± 0.23 ppm in blood and soil samples, respectively. The results have further proved that gender and occupations have an effect in increasing the concentrations of uranium. In addition, the concentrations in blood samples are generally lower than the concentration in soil samples.