Public ingestion exposure to 226Ra in Ramsar, Iran

The assessment of the annual effective dose due to ingestion of radionuclides from drinking water consumption: calculation methods

In the present paper the different ways of assessing the annual effective dose due to ingestion of radionuclides by drinking water consumption were examined and exemplified. On a set of 10 samples the gross alpha activity, the gross beta activity, the concentration of 210Po, 210Pb, 238U, 232Th and, 226Ra were measured. The highest annual effective dose values assessed by relying on the investigated sample set were found by using the rationale according to which all the gross alpha and beta activity is due to the alpha and beta radionuclide, with the highest effective dose coefficient, namely 210Po and 210Pb/228Ra, respectively.

Assessment of radioactivity and chemical contaminants in domestic water at supply stations in Long Phu District, Vietnam, to prevent public health risks

This paper presents information on the concentration of radioactivity and chemicals at 12 water stations that used groundwater as their raw water supply source. The groundwater's radioactivity was higher than the treated, tap, and surface water, but lower than the national and international recommendations. At five stations (41.7%), the gross alpha contents were higher than the levels advised by Vietnam's regulations, but met the WHO and IAEA's recommendations. The mean activity (Bq L^-1) gross alpha, gross beta, Ra-224, Ra-226, and Ra-228 were 0.093 ± 0.012, 0.221 ± 0.020, 0.031 ± 0.004, 0.028 ± 0.004, and 0.035 ± 0.001, respectively. The contribution of Ra-226 to the gross alpha was in a range of 23%-60% (r = 0.91, p value <0.001), and the ratio of Ra-226/Ra-228 ranged from 0.49-1.06. For the treated and tap water, each age groups' annual committed effective dose was lower than the international regulations. The concentration of the total dissolved solids, sulfate, chloride, sodium, barium, and manganese met the national regulations. However, during the rainy season, the surface water in the area was affected by saltwater intrusion, with salinity up to 4.1‰. Discriminant analysis was applied to study the differences among the water groups. As a result, the treated and tap water were separated from the others.