Back to Search Start Over

226Ra in some Croatian rivers

226Ra in some Croatian rivers

Authors :
Bituh, Tomislav
Petrinec, Branko
Marovic, Gordana
Sencar, Jasminka
Publication Year :
2007

Abstract

The study was conducted by the Radiation Protection Unit of the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health in Zagreb as a part of an extensive monitoring program of the Croatian environment. Croatia is a water-rich country. Rivers in Croatia are important sources of water supply along with underground water, wells and technical water supply systems. The presence of natural radionuclides in the Croatian rivers emphasized the need for continuous monitoring. 226Ra was chosen as a possible source of human exposure to radioactivity due to its high radio-toxicity. This paper is concerned with the specific activity of 226Ra in the Danube, Drava, Sava and Neretva rivers. Radiochemical separation of 226Ra was performed on all samples. Precipitated Ba(Ra)SO4 was determined by alpha-spectrometric measurement. According to the Croatian Regulation on Dangerous Substances in Water, 226Ra is recognized as a hazardous substance and its maximum tolerable concentration is defined depending on a water category. Results from this study showed that most of the samples (90%) were bellow maximum tolerable concentration for category I (drinking waters) whereas only 3 samples (10%) exceeded 50 Bq/L. As far as radium is concerned all Croatian river waters can be used as drinking water.

Details

Language :
English
Database :
OpenAIRE
Accession number :
edsair.dedup.wf.001..3b5c859f4236cc0dfe0f5d2aec4e844c