A comparative study of radon levels in underground and surface water samples of Faridabad district of Southern Haryana, India

A comprehensive study of radon in drinking waters of Hanumangarh district and the assessment of resulting dose to local population

Study of radon concentration in drinking water from different sources (groundwater and surface water) used across the Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan, India, was done using scintillation-based detector. The concentration of radon in surface water varied from 0.12 to 2.07 Bq/l with an average value of 0.62 Bq/l and a standard deviation of 0.55 Bq/l and in groundwater samples varied from 1.61 to 8.73 Bq/l with an average value of 4.8 Bq/l and a standard deviation of 2.24 Bq/l. The ingestion and inhalation dose were calculated to assess the health risk for infants, children and adults. The resulting average annual effective dose has been found to be considerably lower than the recommended safe limit of 0.1 msv/y (WHO, In: Incorporating first and second addenda, third ed. WHO Press, Geneva. 3rd ed. World Health Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland, 2008). It can be concluded that radon in water does not pose a significant radiological health risk to the population of the studied area.

Radon concentration measurement and effective dose assessment in drinking groundwater for the adult population in the surrounding area of a thermal power plant

Radon in the household water collected from hand pumps is measured using a continuous radon monitor. Water samples are collected from 25 villages from the surrounding regions of the National Capital Power Cooperation (NTPC), Dadri. The radon concentration ranges from 17±1 to 68±3 Bql^-1 with a mean value of 33±13 Bql^-1. The measured radon concentration in all collected samples lies well within the limit of 100 Bql^-1as set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The mean values of the annual effective dose due to ingestion of radon and due to the inhalation of radon released from water are 84±33 and 167±65 μSvy^-1, respectively. In addition, the mean values of estimated total annual effective doses are found to be 167±65 μSvy^-1. The mean value of total annual effective doses is found to be higher than the reference dose level of 100 μSvy^-1 recommended by the WHO and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effect of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). The mean values of effective doses per annum to the lungs and stomach are 9.9±3.9 and 10.1±3.9 μSv, respectively.

DISTRIBUTION OF RADON AND URANIUM LEVELS IN GROUNDWATER OF DISTRICT PALWAL, SOUTHERN HARYANA, INDIA

Scintillation-detector-based SMART RnDuo (AQTEK System, India) and LED fluorimeter (Quantalase Instrument, India) were used for measurements of radon and uranium concentration in 54 groundwater samples collected from different locations in the Palwal district of Haryana (India). Radon in 26% and uranium in 54% of samples were found to be at higher levels than the maximum contamination limit (11 Bq l-1) for drinking water recommended by US Environmental Protection Agency and provisional guideline level (30 μg l-1) stated by World Health Organization.