Uranium and thorium series radionuclides in drinking water from drilled bedrock wells: correlation to geology and bedrock radioactivity and dose estimation

Natural radioactivity in drinking water from 328 drilled wells was studied in correlation to source parameters. Poor correlation to both aquifer geology and bedrock radioactivity was observed. Concentrations of 238U, 226Ra, 228Ra, 222Rn and 210Po in groundwater samples was in the ranges <0.027-5.3, <0.016-4.9, <0.014-1.24, 5-8105 and <0.05-0.947 Bq.l(-1) respectively. In about 80% of the sites the radon concentration exceeds the Nordic recommended exemption level for radon in drinking water and 15% of the sites exceed the action limit. The effective doses from ingestion were calculated and presented in association with geology. Doses due to ingestion ranged between 0.05 and 20.4 mSv.y(-1), where the average contribution from 222Rn amounted to 75%. In comparison, the effective doses from inhalation of indoor 222Rn ranged between 0.2 and 20 mSv.y(-1). The average contribution from inhalation of 222Rn in air to the total effective dose (ingestion+inhalation) was 58 +/- 22%, 73 +/- 18% and 77 +/- 16% (1 SD) for the age categories 1 y, 10 y and adults respectively.     

Natural radioactivity and dose estimation in underground water from the Sudety Mountains in Poland

Studies of natural radioactivity in spring water in Swieradów-Czerniawa Health Resort were performed with the use of nuclear and mass spectrometry techniques. The investigated region is situated in the Sudety Mountains, where uranium exploration was conducted in the early 1950s of the last century. Annual effective doses due to radionuclide intake were calculated for 4 out of 20 spring waters used for consumption by spa patients and inhabitants. The summed effective doses without 222Rn were of the range 0.4 microSv to 9.2 microSv, for patient for of a 20-day duration stay and from 1.3 microSv y(-1) to 26.7 microSv y(-1) for an inhabitant. The contribution of radon consumed with water raises these values to 209.4 microSv per 20 days and 608.3 microSv y(-1) for a patient and inhabitant, respectively.     

Measurement of natural radioactivity in bottled drinking water in Pakistan and consequent dose estimates

Natural radioactivity was determined in 11 different brands of commonly sold bottled drinking water in the federal capital Islamabad and Rawalpindi city of Pakistan using gamma spectrometry technique. Mean concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and (40)K were found to be 11.3 +/- 2.3, 5.2 +/- 0.4 and 140.9 +/- 30.6 mBq l(-1), respectively. The annual cumulative effective doses due to all three natural radionuclides for different age groups of 1-5 y, 5-10 y, 10-15 y and adults (>or=18 y) were estimated to be 4.0, 3.4, 3.1 and 4.1 microSv y(-1), respectively. Among the three natural radionuclides, annual effective doses for all age groups from 226Ra were significant. Children in the age group of 1-5 y appeared to be at risk with respect to the annual effective doses from 226Ra as compared to the other age groups. Results obtained in this study are compared with the reported values from other countries of the world and it was observed that measured activity concentrations of three natural radionuclides in the bottled drinking water were lower than these values. Annual estimated effective doses for all four age groups from the intake of natural radionuclides in bottled drinking water were also found below the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended limit of 0.1 mSv y(-1) as well as the average radiation dose of 0.29 mSv y(-1) received per head worldwide due to ingestion of natural radionuclides assessed by UNSCEAR (2000).     

Uranium dose assessment: a Bayesian approach to the problem of dietary background

Workers are routinely monitored by urinalysis for exposure to uranium at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Urine samples are analysed by alpha spectroscopy for 234U, 235U and 238U. Interpretation of the data is complicated by the presence of natural uranium in the workers' drinking water and diet. Earlier methods used drinking water samples to estimate the dietary component in urine excretion. However, there proved to be insufficient correlation between drinking water concentration and excretion rate. Instead, an iterative calculation is used to identify a typical excretion rate for each individual in the absence of occupational intakes. Bayesian dose-assessment methods, first developed for plutonium bioassay at Los Alamos, have been adapted for uranium. These methods, coupled with an algorithm for identifying each individual's baseline level of uranium from environmental sources, yield improved reliability in the identification of occupational intakes.     

活性炭-超滤-紫外线组合工艺用于公共直饮水的实践

由于二次污染问题的存在,我国的自来水还无法实现直接饮用,开发处理用于公共直饮水工艺成为亟待解决的问题.文章介绍了活性炭-超滤-紫外线组合工艺用于公共直饮水的实践与应用以及相关的成功案例.实践表明,该工艺完全满足公共直饮水的水质要求,而且易于管理.     

Uranium content and dose assessment for phosphate fertiliser and soil samples: comparison of uranium concentration between virgin soil and fertilised soil

Specific activity of (235)U and (238)U in soil and fertiliser samples from Guellal region in Setif (Algeria) was determined by gamma-ray spectrometry. The selected phosphate fertilisers samples were collected from two types of fertilisers NPK (N, nitrogen; P, phosphorus; K, potassium) and NPKs (sulphate-based NPK). These last ones are used to fertilise the studied area as well as a radioactivity comparison between the soils before and after fertilisation. NPK and NPKs fertilisers have presented higher concentrations of the radionuclide (238)U, up to 1125 and 1545 Bq kg(-1), respectively. For soils before and after fertilisation, the concentrations of (238)U were, respectively, 252.8 and 316.2 Bq kg(-1). The average value and range of measured concentration of (235)U for soils before fertilisation was 12.16 ± 1.4 Bq kg(-1) and for the fertilised soils was 15.16 ± 1.8 Bq kg(-1), whereas the corresponding values for NPK and NPKs fertilisers were, respectively, 49.38 ± 5.7 and 50.61 ± 5.2 Bq kg(-1).     

Fluoride in drinking water and its removal

Excessive fluoride concentrations have been reported in groundwaters of more than 20 developed and developing countries including India where 19 states are facing acute fluorosis problems. Various technologies are being used to remove fluoride from water but still the problem has not been rooted out. In this paper, a broad overview of the available technologies for fluoride removal and advantages and limitations of each one have been presented based on literature survey and the experiments conducted in the laboratory with several processes. It has been concluded that the selection of treatment process should be site specific as per local needs and prevailing conditions as each technology has some limitations and no one process can serve the purpose in diverse conditions.     

Uncertainties in dose coefficients for intakes of tritiated water and organically bound forms of tritium by members of the public

The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) provides models for the calculation of doses from intakes of radionuclides, including intakes of tritium as tritiated water (HTO) or organically bound tritium (OBT). The ICRP models for HTO and OBT are explained and the assumptions made are examined. The reliability of dose estimates is assessed in terms of uncertainties in central estimates for population groups. The models consider intakes of HTO and OBT by ingestion and inhalation by adults and children and doses to the fetus following intakes by the mother. The analysis includes uncertainties in the absorption of OBT to blood, incorporation of tritium into OBT in body tissues, retention times in tissues, transfer to the fetus and the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of tritium beta emissions compared with gamma rays. Heterogeneity of dose within tissues and cells is also considered. For intakes as HTO, dose is predominantly due to distribution and retention of HTO in body water and it was concluded that adult doses are reliable to within a factor of 2. For intakes of OBT, the extent of incorporation into OBT in body tissues results in greater uncertainties with estimates relying on animal data for selected compounds. The analysis indicated that adult doses from OBT can be considered to be known to within a factor of 3. Greater uncertainties in estimated doses for children and for in utero exposures were considered. Central values from the uncertainty analyses of doses for HTO and OBT were greater than the corresponding ICRP dose coefficients by about a factor of 2, mainly due to the inclusion of uncertainties in RBE for tritium. A detailed assessment of doses using appropriate parameters and considering uncertainties would be of particular importance in situations where the dose may approach dose limits or constraints. For exposures to known forms of OBT, specific dose assessments may be required.     

Optimization models for operative planning in drinking water networks

The topic of this paper is minimum cost operative planning of pressurized water supply networks over a finite horizon and under reliable demand forecast. Since this is a very hard problem, it is desirable to employ sophisticated mathematical algorithms, which in turn calls for carefully designed models with suitable properties. The paper develops a nonlinear mixed integer model and a nonlinear programming model with favorable properties for gradient-based optimization methods, based on smooth component models for the network elements. In combination with further nonlinear programming techniques (Burgschweiger et al. in ZIB Report ZR-05-31, Zuse Institute Berlin, 2005), practically satisfactory near-optimum solutions even for large networks can be generated in acceptable time using standard optimization software on a PC workstation. Such an optimization system is in operation at Berliner Wasserbetriebe.     

Reassessment of tritium dose coefficients for the general public

Concerns of increased risk from tritium intake by humans have been claimed in the past. The arguments concerning the radiobiological effectiveness of tritium, its longer retention in the human body and the presence of tritium in the DNA hydration shell are analysed in this paper. A biokinetic model for tritiated water and organically bound tritium retention in the human body is used, based on a common approach for mammals using energy and hydrogen metabolism and tested separately with animal experiments. Extension to this model to humans considers the increased role of the brain, food quality and unique growth patterns of humans. Various ages and genders for Caucasians are considered. For an intake of tritium in organic forms in the diet, the retention for the female is of about a factor 2 compared with ICRP recommendations. Effective dose coefficients are estimated to be about a factor of 2 to 3 higher than those of the ICRP.     

我国生活饮用水中铅、砷检测能力验证分析

分析2012年由中国测试技术研究院承担的国家认监委能力验证项目＂CNCA-12-A08生活饮用水中重金属及无机阴离子的检测＂中铅、砷的能力验证结果,对生活饮用水中铅、砷检测方法进行比较和探讨。能力验证结果表明：ICP-MS法测定铅和砷的结果满意率最高,测定结果中位值及平均值与理论值最为接近。     

我国生活饮用水中铅、砷检测能力验证分析

分析2012年由中国测试技术研究院承担的国家认监委能力验证项目"CNCA-12-A08生活饮用水中重金属及无机阴离子的检测"中铅、砷的能力验证结果,对生活饮用水中铅、砷检测方法进行比较和探讨。能力验证结果表明:ICP-MS法测定铅和砷的结果满意率最高,测定结果中位值及平均值与理论值最为接近。     

采用离子色谱法测定饮用水及环境水样中的溴酸盐

采用离子色谱方法测定了饮用水及环境水样中溴酸盐的含量,水样经Ion Pac AS11-HC阴离子分析柱和IonPac AG11-HC(4×250 mm)保护柱分离,以不同浓度的Na OH溶液为淋洗液;Br O3-在0.0157-1.57μg/L的范围内线性关系良好,检出限为0.005mg/L,空白水样的加标回收率在87.1%~110.2%之间,相对标准偏差(n=6)均小于5.0%。