Radiological Assessment of Drinking Water of the Chittagong Region of Bangladesh

Abstract

The specific activity of ²²²Rn, ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K in drinking water of the Chittagong region of Bangladesh was measured using high resolution ? spectrometry. The specific activity of ²²²Rn in the drinking water ranged from 2.04 ± 0.51 to 9.39 ± 2.06 Bq.1^-1 and the mean activity was 4.46 ± 1.95 Bq.1^-1. The mean specific activity of ²²⁶Ra was found to be 0.043 ± 0.017 Bq.1^-1, the mean activity of ²³²Th was 0.19 ± 0.05 Bq.1^-1, and the mean ⁴⁰K activity was 4.16 ± 1.58 Bq.1^-1. No ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs activity was detected in any of the samples of drinking water from the region. From these data the age-dependent associated effective doses due to the ingestion of these isotopes as a consequence of direct consumption of drinking water has been calculated. The average adult effective dose due to intake of drinking water was 56.2 µSv.y^-1 for ²³²Th, 7.6 µSv.y^-1 for ²²⁶Ra and 16.7 µSv.y^-1 for ⁴⁰K.