The environmental monitoring of radon contents in some bottled and sachet water were carried out, with the aid of an active radon device (RAD7) made by Durridge, USA. This study is aimed to determine the level of radon in selected bottled and sachets water in major market in Ile-Ife, with a view to establishing the health risks that could arise in consumption of the water. The results obtained in this study show that all the water samples were safe for consumption without any health implication from radiological point of view.
The study is aimed at investigating the level of radon and to determine the health effect connected to radon in drinking water. A total of thirty (30) water samples were randomly investigated in Ogbomoso using an active electronic device RAD 7, produced by Durridge Company USA. The radon concentrations within the study area vary from 0.60 to 2.64 Bq L−1, with the mean value of 1.86 Bq L−1. The committed annual effective doses due to ingestion vary from 6.25 × 10−3 to 1.93 × 10−2 mSv y−1, with mean values of 0.02 mSv y−1. The radon concentrations in water samples of Ogbomoso are lower than the threshold as set by both United States Environmental and Protection Agency, and European Commission of 11 and 100 Bq L−1 respectively.
Background and Purpose: Radon-222 is a major human health challenge among all sources of ionizing radiation. For most people, the greatest exposure to radon comes from homes and affects mainly the respiratory tract, especially the tracheobronchial region. This work assesses the annual tracheobronchial effective dose from indoor radon inhalation in residential buildings with different covering materials for walls, ceilings and floor using different dosimetric lung models.
Method: A total of 180 residential buildings with commonest combination of covering materials in some cities in South-western Nigeria were investigated using an active electronic radon gas detector, RAD 7. The commonest combination of covering materials were (A): paint, paint, carpet; (B): paint fiber board, plastic tiles; (C): paint, fiber board, ceramic tiles for walls, ceilings and floors respectively.
Result: The mean indoor radon concentration measured ranged between 23.08 Bq m-3 and 72.14 Bq m-3 for all the residential buildings investigated. Buildings with covering materials C, presented the highest radon concentration. Generally, the mean indoor radon concentration for all combinations of covering materials in all the cities investigated were found to be lower than the recommended action level of 200 Bqm-3 and the reference level of 100 Bqm-3 set by International Commission on for Radiation Protection and World Health Organization respectively. The annual tracheobronchial effective dose estimated for the different lung dose models ranged from 0.91 mSv – 3.27 mSv for combination (A), 1.00 mSv - 3.60 mSv for combination (B) and 1.09 mSv – 3.94 mSv for combination (C). It revealed that the more recent model gives greater value of the annual tracheobronchial effective dose. It was observed that only the annual tracheobronchial effective doses obtained by the James model presented values that are within the recommended ICRP intervention level of (3-10) mSvy-1. Other models gave values of annual tracheobronchial effective doses below the ICRP recommended intervention levels.
Conclusion: These imply that all the residential buildings and the different combination of covering materials surveyed in this work will not pose any radiological hazard to the inhabitants.
Key words: Indoor Radon Inhalation, Radon-222, annual tracheobronchial effective dose, residential buildings
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