Measurement of Content of 226Ra in Drinking Water From Some States of Mexican Republic by Liquid Scintillation Method
Open Access
- 28 February 2020
- journal article
- Published by Chitkara University Publications in Journal of Nuclear Physics, Material Sciences, Radiation and Applications
- Vol. 7 (2), 195-201
- https://doi.org/10.15415/jnp.2020.72025
Abstract
To assess the quality of drinking water in respect to the content of radioactivity, usually is carried out an screening program in the locations of interest, that program consist in pick representative samples of drinking water from the wells in that locations, water samples are analyzed to measuring the gross alpha/beta radioactivity by a low background proportional counter or a liquid scintillation system. When some sample exceeds the normative limit then it must be known which radionuclides are in that sample. Expected radionuclides in water are the NORM (normal occurring radioactive material) from the natural radioactive chains. 226Ra is frequently present in drinking water and is one of most important radionuclide because its “radiotoxicity”, the WHO [World Health Organization, Guidelines for drinking-water Quality, (2016)] recommends a reference level for 226Ra of 1 Bq/L (the dose coefficient for 226Ra is 2.8 x 10-7 Sv/Bq). From a national program of drinking water screening in the Mexican Republic, the samples that exceeded the national normative limits were picked again in the same well and analyzed by LS (liquid Scintillation), using the method of two phases with a not water miscible scintillator cocktail. Results of concentrations of 226Ra from drinking water are presented. In general the content of 226Ra in drinking water samples was lower that the guide values recommended for the WHO.Keywords
This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit:
- Geological and hydrogeochemical controls on radium isotopes in groundwater of the Sinai Peninsula, EgyptScience of The Total Environment, 2018
- Study of the distribution of 226Ra in ground water near the uranium industry of Jharkhand, IndiaRadiation Protection Dosimetry, 2011
- Cancer risks attributable to low doses of ionizing radiation: Assessing what we really knowProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2003
- Radium in ground water from public-water supplies in northern IllinoisFact Sheet, 1999
- Natural RadioactivityPublished by Elsevier BV ,1997
- A Porous Flow Model for Steady State Transport of Radium in GroundwaterWater Resources Research, 1986
- The geochemistry of Ca, Sr, Ba and Ra sulfates in some deep brines from the Palo Duro Basin, TexasGeochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 1985
- Compliance Data for the Occurrence of Radium and Gross Alpha-particle Activity in Drinking Water Supplies in the United StatesHealth Physics, 1984
- Radium, thorium and radioactive lead isotopes in groundwaters: Application to the in situ determination of adsorption‐desorption rate constants and retardation factorsWater Resources Research, 1982