Determination of ~226Ra concentration in bottled mineral water and assessment of effective doses, a survey in Turkey

摘要

Background: There is a rapid increase worldwide in the consumption of mineral waters which may contain different level of radioactive elements, especially ~226Ra, in addition to varying amounts of beneficial salts. Therefore, a comprehensive study was planned and carried out in order to determine concentration of ~226Ra natural radionuclide in bottled mineral waters that commercially available in Marmara Region of Turkey. Materials and Methods: The method used for ~226Ra concentration analysis bases on the measurement of Radon (~222Rn) coming from ~226Ra dissolved in the water. The measurements were performed using RAD 7, a solid state a detector, with RAD H_2O accessory manufactured by DURRIDGE COMPANY Inc. Results: The ~226Ra concentration in mineral waters was found to vary from <0.074 to 0.625 Bql(-1) with an average value of 0.267 Bql~(-1)The committed effective doses due to ingestion of ~226Ra from the one year consumption of these waters were estimated to range from 10.8 to 90 muSvy~(-1), from 9 to 75 muSvy(-1) and from 3.15 to 26.25 muSvy~(-1), for infants, children and adults, respectively. Conclusion: The results obtained in this study indicate that the committed effective doses are below the WHO (World Health Organization) recommended reference level of 100 muSvy.