This manuscript describes the natural radioactivity and its health hazard effects due to building materials. An overview of other natural radioactivity sources like uranium, radium, thorium and potassium and, also the types of radiations has been discussed. A brief description of radiation units, exposure limits and guidelines given by International Commission on Radiological Protection is also given. It represents a brief description of radium, thorium and potassium measurement techniques, materials and instruments used in the present study. The building material have been analyzed for radium analysis using Gama Ray Spectroscopy technique. The activity content has been determined by calculating the concentration of these elements in the different building material samples, taken from different areas.

In the book, the concentration of radio nuclides viz. 226Ra, 232Th and 40K has been determined in soil samples of Malwa region of Punjab, India using gamma-ray spectrometry. The solid state nuclear track detectors have been employed to estimate uranium, radium and radon exhalation rate in soil samples. The fission track registration technique has been used for the analysis of uranium concentration in water samples of the study area. A comparison has also been done for radon and its progeny estimation in Malout area using defined solid angle absolute beta counting (DSAABC) technique and solid state nuclear track detectors (SSNTD) technique.The literature survey reveals that the data for the level of natural radioactivity for the Malwa region of Punjab is quite meager. The detailed investigations for the measurement of natural radioactivity have been carried out for the first time. The aim of the present work has been to study the level of natural radioactivity in Malwa region of Punjab for health risk assessment and explore the possibilities of uranium, thorium exploration in the region.