Determination of natural radioactivity in drinking water in private dug wells in Akure, Southwestern Nigeria
Abstract
Abstract Gamma spectrometry of well water was done to measure the activity concentrations of gamma-emitters 226 Ra and 228 Ra from 238 U and 232 Th series, respectively, and 40 K in their waters. Measurements were done using high-purity (HPGe) co-axial detectors (Canberra, GC 2018-7500 ) coupled to Canberra Multichannel Analyser system. Activity concentrations ranged from 0.57 to 26.86, 0.20 to 60.06 and 0.35 to 29.01 Bq l −1 for 226 Ra, 228 Ra and 40 K, respectively. Activity concentrations were compared with data from other parts of the world and used to estimate annual effective dose for three age groups. Total annual effective doses from the intake of these radionuclides in the waters ranged from 0.02 to 76.84, 0.02 to 38.80 and 0.05 to 481.60 mSv y −1 for age group <1, 2–7 and ≥17 y, respectively. These values are considerably higher than both the World Health Organisation and the International Commission on Radiological Protection limits. © The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org