ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Natural Radioactivity of Solid and Liquid Phases
from Shale oil and Gas Prospecting in Pomerania
Anna Mykowska, Jan Hupka
More details
Hide details
Department of Chemical Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology,
Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
Submission date: 2014-05-06
Acceptance date: 2014-05-23
Publication date: 2014-12-16
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2014;23(6):2137-2142
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Ionizing radiation intensity data and estimation of equivalent absorbed doses from solid and liquid samples
from prospecting shale gas and oil at select sites in Pomerania are presented. Naturally occurring radioactive
materials (NORM) are associated with geological formations or fluids and can be enhanced during oil and
gas production. They appear in e.g. drilling cuttings, flow-back water, produced water, scale, and sludge. In
this study only gamma rays were detected and their intensity was comparable to the background radiation,
which is 20.0±4.6 [min-1]. The highest value of 27.3 [min-1] was detected in solid residue from evaporated
flow-back fluid after hydraulic fracturing. The equivalent absorbed dose from this sample was ~ 2 Sv/a, which
is lower than the global average dose from 2.4 Sv/a background radiation. In this regard, workers and others
in the vicinity of drilling well sites will not be exposed to external or internal ionizing radiation.