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Med. Pr. 2006;57(5):451-454

Concentrations of natural 226Ra and 222Rn radioisotopes in the water from deep well intakes in the vicinity of Łódź

Ocena zawartości naturalnych izotopów promieniotwórczych radu 226Ra i radonu 222Rn w wodach z ujęć głębino

Dariusz Kluszczyński, Maja Tybor-Czerwińska, Janusz Kacprzyk, Zbigniew Kamiński Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland

Abstract

Background: The towns of Zgierz, Ozorków, Stryków and Głowno are located in the central part of Poland, 10 to 30 km to the north of Łódź. Large surface water reservoirs are not available in that region, and the inhabitants of this region are supplied with drinking water from deep water sources. Literature data show that water from deep wells may contain various radionuclides, such as radium ²²⁶Ra or radon ²²²Rn, and their activity levels depend, among others, on the age of the geologic formation the water comes from. Material and Methods: An emanation technique employing a low-background system consisting of scintillation chamber with two photomultipliers operating in the coincidence arrangement was used to measure radium and radon concentrations. Results: Radium-226 at levels above the detection level (9 Bq/m³) of the measurement method were not detected in any of the examined deep water sources. Water-solvedradon-222 was detected in all tested samples. The measured activities were within the range of 1 kBq/m³ to 13 kBq/m³. Conclusions: Assuming the maximum concentration value, it is estimated that an annual dose received by the population drinking that water is 0.04mSv, which is below the value of 0.1 mSv recommended by the World Health Organisation.

Key words

ionising radiation, radium, radon, water