Measurements of Natural Radioactivity in Some Water and Soil Samples of Punjab State, India

Abstract

In the present investigation a nuclear track-etch technique using Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors was used to estimate the trace uranium concentration in water and soil samples collected from different sources and locations of the Amritsar and Bathinda cities of Punjab. The uranium concentration in the water samples collected from Amritsar was found to vary from 3.17 to 4.19 mg Á L À1 and in the Bathinda city it varied between 4.28 and 16.48 mg Á L À1 . A lake sample, collected from the NFL water works site in Bathinda city had a uranium content of only 1.21 mg Á L À1 which was several times lower than those samples collected from hand-pumps a n d t u b e -w e l l s f r o m t h i s a r e a . T h e uranium concentration in soil samples of Amritsar city was found to vary from 0.61 to 1.27 ppm. In addition, soil samples from other cities of the Punjab were analysed using the Gamma-spectroscopic technique to determine 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K concentrations in soil. The average values of the concentration of these elements was found to be 43.9, 55.9 and 101.7 Bq Á kg À1 respectively.

Assessment of natural radioactivity levels and associated dose rates in soil samples from historical city Panipat, India

“…So, it is important to assess the radiation hazards arising due to use of soil samples in construction of dwellings. Many researchers have estimated the natural radioactivity levels in Haryana (Bajwa, Singh, Singh, Singh, & Walia, 2008;Mehra, 2009;Mehra, Kumar, Sonkawade, Singh, & Bandhan, 2010;Kansal, Mehra, Singh, Bandhan, & Sonkawade, 2010;Gupta et al, 2013;Kansal & Mehra, 2015), adjoining state Punjab (Bajwa, Sharma, Walia, & Virk, 2003;, Rajasthan (Duggal, Rani, Mehra, & Ramola, 2013;Rani, Mittal, Mehra, & Ramola, 2015) and Himachal Pradesh (Singh, Sharma, Dhar, Kumar, & Kumar, 2007;Bala, Mehra, & Ramola, 2014;Sharma, Kumar, Kumar, & Singh, 2003;Singh, Singh, Bajwa, & Sahoo, 2016) of India and in other parts of world (Akhtar, Tufail, Ashraf, & Iqbal, 2005;Shoeib & Thabayneh, 2014;Turhan & Varinlioglu, 2012).…”

Environmental radon: Health aspects and present status in northern India

“…Singh et al 50 in Bathinda, Mehra et al 51 in Malwa region of Punjab, Chauhan 52 in Harryana, Dwivedi et al 53 in Allahabad, Vishakapatnam and Shillong, Singh et al 54 in Kala Amb, Morni Hills and Nahan, Rao and Sengupta 55 in Southern Orissa and Kant and Chakarvarty 56 in Haryana reported the indoor radon levels in the dwellings of the concerned areas. Singh et al 50 in Bathinda, Mehra et al 51 in Malwa region of Punjab, Bajwa et al 57 in Amritsar and Bathinda, Mehra et al 58 in Malwa region of Punjab, Singh et al 59 in upper Siwaliks, Prasad et al 60 in South Kumaun lesser Himalayas, Gupta et al 61 in National Thermal Power Corporation, Singh et al 62 in Nurpur Area, Himachal, Mahur et al 63 in thermal power plants of Kolaghat and Kasimpur, Sundar et al 64 in major thermal power plants of India and Kant and Chakarvarty 56 in Haryana reported the radon exhalation rate/radon concentration in the soil/fly ash samples of the concerned area. Khan and Puranik 65 reviewed radon studies in the environment, dwellings and ground waters in Singhbhum Thrust Belt of eastern India.…”

“…51 in Malwa region of Punjab, Bajwa et al. 57 in Amritsar and Bathinda, Mehra et al. 58 in Malwa region of Punjab, Singh et al.…”

Measurement of uranium and radon concentration in drinking water samples and assessment of ingestion dose to local population in Jalandhar district of Punjab, India

“…Very few studies have been conducted in India to measure the uranium and radon concentration in drinking water. 8–11 In this context, a survey was carried out to assess the concentration of dissolved radon and uranium in drinking water samples in Jalandhar district of Punjab, India. The survey also assumes significance, since elevated levels of uranium has been reported, in some samples, from adjoining regions of Punjab state in recent studies.…”