Radiological investigation of natural carbonated spring waters from Eastern Carpathians, Romania

Abstract

The current study presents a radiological water-quality assessment on 64 spring water samples from four Romanian counties. The study area is abundant in CO2-rich spring waters consumed by locals and tourists. Gross alpha activities ranged between 21 ± 2 and 7530 ± 658 mBq L−1, with 27% of the samples exceeding the WHO threshold. Gross beta values ranged from 40 ± 2 to 5520 ± 430 mBq L−1, with 29% exceeding the recommended values. Radionuclide activities fluctuated between 0.6 ± 0.08 and 81 ± 6 Bq L−1 for 222Rn, 15 ± 2 to 1154 ± 112 mBq L−1 for 226Ra, and from 18 ± 2 to 64 ± 5 mBq L−1 for 210Po. The annual effective doses attributed to radium varied between 0.002 and 0.23 mSv yr−1.

A Multivariate Model of Drinking Water Quality Based on Regular Monitoring of Radioactivity and Chemical Composition

“…Regarding the radioactivity of groundwater, similar results were reported in the Galati region of Romania, the highest gross alpha and beta activities being found in samples collected from drilled wells [74]. Recently, a radiological investigation of 64 samples of natural carbonated water originating from four Romanian counties, namely, Covasna, Harghita, Bistrit , a-Năsăud, and Maramures , revealed that 53.5% and 26% of the investigated samples exceeded the allowed values for gross alpha activity and gross beta activity, respectively, which was attributed to the presence of volcanic rocks in the studied area [75].…”