Abstract
Measurement of natural radioactivity levels of major and heavy metals concentration was carried out for water samples collected from primary schools in Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia. The estimations were done for two different age groups, children (students 7 - 12 y) and adults (teachers and workers > 17 y) at the schools. The chemical analysis was performed by an Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) and a high-resolution HPGe detector was used for the natural radionuclides measurement. The obtained results for the heavy metals (Fe, Cu, and Zn) and major and heavy elements (Na, K, Ca and Mg) concentrations in all water samples did not exceed the limits of WHO, EPA and TSE-266 guidelines for drinking water. Only Pb exceeded the safe limit. Generally, heavy metals and major elements’ concentrations in water samples were found decrease in sequence of Ca > Na > Mg > K > Zn > Pb > Cu > Fe. The radioactivity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in all studied samples were below the permissible safe limit value. The total average annual effective doses of (226Ra + 232Th + 40K) radionuclides were 0.259 mSv.y-1 for the children and 0.112 mSv.y-1 for adults, which are below the recommended annual dose level 1.0 mSv.y-1 as reported by WHO (2006). The present drinking waters are high quality waters and safe in terms of natural radioactivity and the results of the HQ values for the individual heavy metals showed that there was no health risk for humans due to consumption of these waters.
Highlights
Measurement of natural radioactivity levels of major and heavy metals concentration was carried out for water samples collected from primary schools in Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia
The aim of the study is to measure the concentration of heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Pb and Zn), major elements (Na, K, Ca, Mg) and natural radioactivity of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in the schools’ drinking water and to estimate the radiological risk resulting in the population using these waters
The results indicate that Na varied from 3.96 mg∙L−1 in sample w14 to 64.3 mg∙L−1 in sample w5 with a mean value of 10.48 mg∙L−1
Summary
Radioactivity, major and heavy element rates should not exceed the permissible limits for drinking water For this reason, the metals and natural radioactivity concentration in water have been studied by many investigators in several countries (Ali et al, 2016; Radulescu et al, 2017; Ghaderpoori et al, 2018; Parhoudeh et al, 2019). According to our literature survey conducted by the researcher, there are no data found on the quality of schools’ drinking water supplies in the city of Jeddah This is the first study to assess the levels of background radiation, major, and heavy metals in drinking water of this area. The aim of the study is to measure the concentration of heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Pb and Zn), major elements (Na, K, Ca, Mg) and natural radioactivity of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in the schools’ drinking water and to estimate the radiological risk resulting in the population using these waters. The data produced in this study will provide a reference point levels of natural radioactivity and chemical elements in the drinking water of the study area and help in setting the background information for future research on drinking water for radiological safety of humans
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