Natural radioactivity in tap waters from the private wells in the surroundings of the former Žirovski Vrh uranium mine and the age-dependent dose assessment

Benedik, Ljudmila; Rovan, Leja; Klemenčič, Hiacinta; Gantar, Ivan; Prosen, Helena

Natural radioactivity in tap waters from the private wells in the surroundings of the former Žirovski Vrh uranium mine and the age-dependent dose assessment

2015

Benedik, Ljudmila | Rovan, Leja | Klemenčič, Hiacinta | Gantar, Ivan | Prosen, Helena

Activity concentration of ²³⁸U, ²³⁴U, ²²⁶Ra, ²²⁸Ra, ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po in tap water from selected springs and private wells in the area of the former uranium mine at Žirovski Vrh were determined. A total of 22 tap water samples were collected at consumer’s houses. The results show that the activity concentrations of uranium in water samples are in range (0.17–372) and (0.22–362) mBq L⁻¹ for ²³⁸U and ²³⁴U, respectively. Radium activity concentrations are in range (0.14–16.7) and (0.9–11.7) mBq L⁻¹ for ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸Ra, respectively. ²¹⁰Po activity concentration is in range (0.28–8.0) mBq L⁻¹ and can be regarded as the lowest amongst all analysed radionuclides. The range for ²¹⁰Pb is (0.5–24.6) mBq L⁻¹. Based on the results obtained for activity concentrations of six radionuclides, the committed effective dose for three different age groups of population were estimated. It was found that the committed effective dose was well below the recommended value of 100 μSv year⁻¹, ranging from 2.3 to 34.3 μSv year⁻¹ for adults, from 3.5 to 32.0 μSv year⁻¹ for children (7–12 years) and from 3.0 to 23.3 μSv year⁻¹ for infants.

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