Evaluation of natural radioactivity in Tehran’s water using the gross alpha and beta measurements

Consumption and drinking of healthy and high-quality water is considered an important matter in human life, so monitoring of drinking water pollution including radioactive contamination and assessing the amount of radiation exposure of people through water consumption is very important. The purpose of this investigation was to measure the concentration of gross beta and alpha activities in water samples collected from Tehran water sources. In the present study, the gross beta and alpha activity concentrations of ۳۵ water samples in Tehran were analyzed and measured to evaluate their radiological quality using liquid scintillation method. The results of the analysis showed the activity concentration of gross alpha ranges from ۴۸ mBq/L to ۲۲۷ mBq/L with a mean of ۱۳۷.۵ mBq/L. the activity concentration of gross beta in the samples ranged from ۴۹ mBq/L to ۳۲۸ mBq/L with a mean of ۱۸۴.۷ mBq/L. Also, the correlation coefficient between the results were very strong and equal to ۰.۸۷. The results showed that the gross beta and alpha activity concentrations in all waters was lower than the standard limit of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran, which is ۵۰۰ mBq/L and ۱۰۰۰ mBq/L, respectively and also waters are radiologically healthy.

کلیدواژه ها:

Gross beta ، Gross alpha ، Natural radioactivity ، Liquid scintillation Counting