Radioactivity and Chemical Compositions of Some Selected Commercial Bottled Waters in Belarus

Abstract

The measured chemical composition, concentrations of the uranium and radium isotopes (U-238, U-234, Ra-228, Ra-226) of 17 bottles water purchased from markets in Minsk Belarus and two water samples collected directly from catchments in the area of Minsk are presented. The bottled waters originated from not only Belarus but also Czech Republic, Russia and Georgia. Their mineralization varied from 300 to above 8000 mg/L. The studied waters were rich in magnesium in general and belonged to different hydrochemical types. The measured radium concentrations ranged from below the low limit of determination (5 mBq/L) to 622 mBq/L and below 10 mBq/L to 2080 mBq/L for Ra-226 and Ra-228 respectively. The uranium contents in the waters varied from 15.4 mBq/L to 111 mBq/L for U-238 and from 14.9 to 289 mBq/L for U-234; while the ratio of the uranium isotopes’ activity ratio (U-234/U-238) ranged from 0.77 to 12.7. The estimated annual committed effective dose rate from the radium and uranium isotopes resulting from the consumption of the investigated waters exceeds the maximum recommended value of 0.1 mSv for adults in one case, 6 cases for teenagers and 10 cases for babies, assuming that every adult, teenager and baby consume 70, 185 and 55 liters per year respectively.