224Ra and the 224Ra/228Ra activity ratio in selected mineral waters from the Polish Carpathians

Authors

  • Chau Dinh Nguyen AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection
  • Lucyna Rajchel AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection
  • Hao Van Duong Hanoi University of Mining and Geology, Faculty of Oil and Gas
  • Jakub Nowak AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7306/gq.1365

Keywords:

Ra-224, radium, mineral waters, effective dose, LSC method

Abstract

Mineral and therapeutic waters widely occurring in the Polish Carpathians contain a vast amount of biogenic elements. However, radioactive elements like radium isotopes are also found in these waters. This paper presents the first results of the activity concentration measurements of 224Ra in selected mineral waters of the Polish Carpathians. Additionally, the content of 226Ra and 228Ra, and the activity ratios of 224Ra/228Ra, 224Ra/226Ra and 226Ra/228Ra in the waters were determined. The work was based on a method for the simultaneous determination of 224Ra, 226Ra and 228Ra in water samples using the a/b liquid scintillation spectrometer. The results show that the activity concentrations of 224Ra, 226Ra and 228Ra in the mineral waters are comparable and vary from ca. 220 mBq/L to above 1500 mBq/L. The activity ratios of 224Ra/228Ra, 224Ra/226Ra and 226Ra/228Ra are variable within the ranges of 0.68 to 1.48, 0.65 to 1.48, and 0.78 to 2.05, respectively. The committed effective dose resulting from the intake of 224Ra through the water consumption is far lower than that from 226Ra and 228Ra.

Downloads

Published

2017-07-03

Issue

Vol. 61 No. 4 (2017)

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as this can lead to productive exchanges and earlier and more frequent citation of the published work (See The Effect of Open Access).