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

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 α detector, with RAD H2O 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 µSvy-1, from 9 to 75 µSvy-1 and from 3.15 to 26.25 µSvy-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 µSvy-1.