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The specific activity concentration of eight sand samples from three locations in the State of Espirito Santo, South Eastern Brazil have been determined for members of the 238 U and 232 Th decay series, as well as the primordial radionuclide 40 K. The calculated activity concentration values and associated radiation hazard indices were evaluated. The thorium decay chain activities are significantly higher than that of comparable studies from other areas of the world, leading to calculated absorbed dose rate in air and radium equivalent activities which are higher than world averages. This is attributed to the geology of the monazite material which is ubiquitous in this region of Brazil. Trace elemental analysis was also carried out on these samples using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable measurement of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials is of significance in order to comply with environmental regulations and for radiological protection purposes. This paper discusses the standardisation of three reference materials, namely sand, tuff and TiO 2 to serve as quality control materials for traceability, method validation and instrument calibration. The sample preparation, material characterization via γ, α and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and the assignment of values for both the 4n (Thorium ) and 4n+2 (Uranium ) decay series are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]