Determination of 222Rn in Iranian mineral waters using liquid scintillation alpha-spectrometry.

Liquid scintillation counting (LSC) method has been used for the measurement of ²²²Rn in mineral water samples under a pilot project for the first surveillance in Iran. Low level background LSC counter “Quantulus” and pulse-shape analysis method have been employed. The concentration of ²²²Rn found in mineral waters of the studied areas ranges from about 1 to 75 Bq/l. The best lower limit of detection obtained with the applied technique was 0.069 Bq/l for a counting time in the range of 236–296 minutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]