Natural radionuclides measurements and total dose indicative evaluation in drinking waters of an Italian central region

Assessment of the Radiological Health Risk Due to the 226Ra Content in Drinking Water from the Calabria Region, Southern Italy

In this article, the authors report experimental results obtained for the assessment of the ²²⁶Ra content in 80 drinking water samples from the Calabria region, Southern Italy. The activity concentration, measured with the Perkin Elmer Tricarb 4910 TR Liquid Scintillation Counter (LSC) setup, was compared with the reference values reported in the Italian Legislative Decree 28/2016 in order to evaluate any possible radiological health hazards for the population in terms of ²²⁶Ra content due to the ingestion of the investigated drinking water. The obtained results put in evidence that the average ²²⁶Ra specific activity is lower than the LSC minimum detectable activity (MDA) in all cases, thus, excluding any radiological risk. They also represent the main reference for the investigated area and can be used as a baseline to extend this investigation to the whole region.

ESTIMATION OF AIRBORNE 106RU ACTIVITY CONCENTRATION FROM TOTAL BETA ACTIVITY OF PM10 PARTICLE FRACTIONS

Airborne radioruthenium, as a result of an accidental release, presents a risk for occupational and public exposure. In fall 2017, a detection of 106Ru was reported by the European atmospheric radioactive contamination monitoring networks. We investigated the daily specific total beta activity of PM10 particle fractions samples. The presented method enables indirect determination of airborne 106Ru activity concentration from total beta activity, in case 106Ru was confirmed as single excess radiological pollutant. This allows for daily measurements and time-resolved 106Ru activity concentration data. We estimated the indicative committed effective dose due to 106Ru inhalation for the Croatian population during the exposure period. Although the estimated dose value of ~169.7 nSv, for ~6-d duration of ruthenium air pollution, was very low, it was ~40 times higher than the value for Hinh from inhalation of other radionuclides (90Sr + 137Cs + 40K + 7Be).

Intake of 210Po, 234U and 238U radionuclides with wine in Italy

238U, 234U and 210Po activity concentration was determined in 70 samples of red and white wine coming from 16 Italian regions. The radionuclides were determined by alpha spectrometry after separation. The results show that the mean concentrations of 238U, 234U and 210Po were 3.63 x 10(-3)+/-2.19 x 10(-3), 4.41 x 10(-3)+/-3.10 x 10(-3) and 6.85 x 10(-2)+/-3.79 x 10(-2) Bq L(-1) for red wine and 5.08 x 10(-3)+/-4.20 x 10(-3), 5.59 x 10(-3)+/-8.49 x 10(-3) and 3.92 x 10(-2)+/-2.63 x 10(-2) Bq L(-1) for white wine, respectively. The effective radiation dose due to the uranium and polonium ingestions by wine (0.5l per day) ranges from 2.68 x 10(-4) to 4.91 x 10(-2) mSv year(-1).