Distribution of natural radionuclides and radon concentration in the riverine environs of Cauvery, South India

Abstract

Systematic studies were carried out to understand the distribution of natural radionuclides in sediments and radon in water in the riverine environs of Cauvery, one of the major rivers of South India. The activity of radionuclides in the sediment was measured by gamma ray spectrometry. The radon emanation from the sediment was measured by the sealed 'can technique' and the radon in the water was measured using the RAD-7 instrument. The mean values of K,Ra, and Th in the sediment samples were found to be 297.3 ± 4.16 Bq kg, 75.1 ± 2.64 Bq kg, and 85.5 ± 2.62 Bq kg, respectively. The mean activity of radon, radon exhalation rate, and radium content were found to be 135.68 Bq m, 327.1 mBq m h, and 133.03 mBq kg, respectively. The radon in the water ranged from 0.19 kBq m to 1.40 kBq m. The hyper pure germanium gamma spectroscopy measured via Ra activity and the radon activity measured by the passive can technique showed good correlation. The mean value of radon in the water was within the internationally recommended level. The sediment was considered safe for the purpose of construction, except for some extreme values, and the water was deemed safe for drinking.

Radon concentration measurement and effective dose assessment in drinking groundwater for the adult population in the surrounding area of a thermal power plant

“…Various studies have been performed in different parts of India to measure the radon concentration in groundwater used for drinking purposes. In various states of India, the concentration of radon dissolved in groundwater ranged as follows: 0.87-6.73 Bql À1 in Himachal Pradesh (Singh et al 2016), 0.4-74.37 Bql À1 in Jammu and Kashmir (Kumar et al 2017a(Kumar et al , 2017b(Kumar et al , 2018Kaur et al 2019), 0.14-35 Bql À1 in Punjab (Kaur et al 2017;Kumar et al 2017cKumar et al , 2019Sharma et al 2019Sharma et al , 2020Pant et al 2020), 0.60-57.35 Bql À1 in Haryana (Duggal et al 2017(Duggal et al , 2018Panghal et al 2017;Sharma et al 2017aSharma et al , 2017bSingh et al 2019), 0.50-861.5 Bql À1 in Rajasthan (Mittal et al 2016a(Mittal et al , 2016bDuggal et al 2020aDuggal et al , 2020b, 0.19-160.18 Bql À1 in Karnataka (Srinivasa et al 2015(Srinivasa et al , 2018(Srinivasa et al , 2019Rangaswamy et al 2016;Niranjan et al 2017;Reddy et al 2017;Shilpa et al 2017;Kaliprasad & Narayana 2018;Sannappa et al 2020;Yashaswini et al 2020) Coal-fired power plants are the sources of fly ash, which contains naturally occurring radioactive elements such as 238 U, 232 Th, and their decay products and other toxic elements. Fly ash is generally stored at coal power plants or placed in landfills.…”

Relationship between radon concentration and physicochemical parameters in groundwater of Erbil city, Iraq

“…The quality of groundwater is equally important as its quantity owing to the suitability of water for daily life. The changing quality of groundwater in an area is a function of chemical and physical parameters that are profoundly affected by anthropogenic activities and geological formations (Asabere & Bempah, 2013;Kaliprasad & Narayana, 2018).…”