224Ra and the 224Ra/228Ra activity ratio in selected mineral waters from the Polish Carpathians

Abstract

Mineral and therapeutic waters widely occurring in the Polish Carpathians contain a vast amount of biogenic elements. However, radioactive elements like radium isotopes are also found in these waters. This paper presents the first results of the activity concentration measurements of 224 Ra in selected mineral waters of the Polish Carpathians. Additionally, the content of 226 Ra and 228 Ra, and the activity ratios of 224 Ra/ 228 Ra, 224 Ra/ 226 Ra and 226 Ra/ 228 Ra in the waters were determined. The work was based on a method for the simultaneous determination of 224 Ra, 226 Ra and 228 Ra in water samples using the a/b liquid scintillation spectrometer. The results show that the activity concentrations of 224 Ra, 226 Ra and 228 Ra in the mineral waters are comparable and vary from ca. 220 mBq/L to above 1500 mBq/L. The activity ratios of 224 Ra/ 228 Ra, 224 Ra/ 226 Ra and 226 Ra/ 228 Ra are variable within the ranges of 0.68 to 1.48, 0.65 to 1.48, and 0.78 to 2.05, respectively. The committed effective dose resulting from the intake of 224 Ra through the water consumption is far lower than that from 226 Ra and 228 Ra.