Elemental abundances, natural radioactivity and physicochemical records of a southern part of Bangladesh: Implication for assessing the environmental geochemistry

Nowadays developing countries around the globe have been undergoing rapid industrialization which is eventually responsible for environmental contamination. For proper assessment of the level of pollution and the proper application of remediation measures, it is imperative to know the pristine geochemistry of the system. In that regard, environmental-geochemistry of a southern part (Rampal: potential site of rapid industrialization) of Bangladesh, has been investigated for elemental abundances, natural radioactivity and physicochemical records of environmental compartments (soil, sediments, river-water). Nuclear analytical techniques such as instrumental neutron activation analysis, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence, gamma spectrometry were used for soil sample study whereas atomic absorption spectroscopy, UV–vis spectrophotometer etc. were used for water sample analysis. Twenty six elemental abundances (Na, Al, K, Ca, Sc,…