Study of the Occurrence of 222Rn and 226Ra in Drinking Water in Spain

Abstract

With the aim of determining the contribution of water to the background of natural radiation in Spain, the 222Rn concentration levels were measured in domestic drinking water from a large part of the country. The water analyzed, both surface and groundwater, was collected in two areas of very distinct geological characteristics, pre-selected for the likelihood of their containing high levels of 222Rn. This water was measured using a coaxial detector of high purity Ge. The overall results demonstrate a log-normal distribution of 222Rn levels, with a geometric and arithmetic means of 10 and 381 Bq L-1, respectively, and a range between detection limit of 2 Bq L-1 and a maximum of 31,000 Bq L-1. The 222Rn concentrations measured in surface water are generally below the detection limit. Significant differences have been found depending on the geological characteristics of the area of reference, although the very distinct concentration levels of 222Rn found in samples of similar lithology imply the influence of more complex factors in the solution of 222Rn in water. Due to the relationship between radon and 226Ra, the concentration of the latter was measured in the same water using radiochemical separation and a scintillation ZnS(Ag) detector. No significant correlation between 226Ra and 222Rn concentrations has been observed unless measurements carried out in a high background radiation region are considered separately.

Occupational Doses From Radon in Spanish Spas

“…The system was calibrated with 226Ra solutions of known activity in equilibrium with radon, placed in containers with the same geometry as the samples to be measured. Under the experimental conditions used, the lower detection limit is 2 X lo3 Bq mP3 (Soto et al 1995).…”

A New Framework for the Management and Radiological Protection of Groundwater Resources: The Implementation of a Portuguese Action Plan for Radon in Drinking Water and Impacts on Human Health

“…The forest area is quite broad in both municipalities and therefore has a lower average radon concentration (334.6 Bq L −1 ) because several lithologies represent it with noticeable differences in radon production from geogenic sources ( Figure 5b). In the last years, several radiological studies about water intended for human consumption were carried out in some European countries like Portugal (64-9784, 3-2295, and 0.3-938 Bq L −1 ), Spain (2-31000 Bq L −1 ), Greece (3-26 Bq L −1 ), Germany (1-1800 Bq L −1 ), and Austria (2-644 Bq L −1 ) [18,20,[66][67][68][69][70]. The radiological results for this study area show that in several springs, radon concentrations in water (14-1385 Bq L −1 ; Table 1) were higher than the results obtained in other countries.…”

Identification of latent faults using a radon test

“…3) to release radon is very low (Soto et al, 1988(Soto et al, , 1995aSoto, 1990;Quindós et al, 1991).…”