TY - JOUR
T1 - Determination of primordial radionuclide concentrations in UAE groundwater using high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry
AU - Ajaj, Rahaf
AU - Shubyar, Nasser
AU - Alashban, Yazeed
AU - El-Sayed, Samar
AU - Salah, Tamar
AU - Al Yafei, Mohammed A.Salem
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to express their gratitude to the many UAE farmers and governmental entities for permission to take study samples. This study was supported by the Graduate Studies Research Fund at United Arab Emirates University and the office of research and sponsored programs at Abu Dhabi University, Funds No. 31F071 and 19300546, respectively.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary.
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Groundwater is the most valuable resource in arid regions, such as UAE. Estimations of natural radionuclide concentrations are important to evaluate the potential risks to the public. In this study, the activity concentrations (ACs) of naturally occurring radioactive materials in groundwater from wells across UAE were determined using gamma spectroscopy. Forty groundwater samples were collected from different sites across UAE and measured using gamma-ray spectrometry technique. The samples were collected from agricultural areas, which represents a small area of the UAE. The AC of 226Ra ranged from 2.61 ×10-1 to 4.14 ×10-1 Bq/L, with a mean value of 3.37 ×10-1 ± 0.063 Bq/L. For 232Th, the AC ranged from 1.55 ×10-1 to 2.93 ×10-1 Bq/L, with a mean value of 2.24 ×10-1 ± 0.056 Bq/L. The mean ACs for 226Ra and 232Th were lower than the recommended limit of 1 Bq/L by the World Health Organization (WHO). The AC of 40K ranged from 3.24 to 6.8 Bq/L, with a mean value of 5.0 ± 0.122 Bq/L. Similarly, the mean AC for 40K was lower than the WHO-recommended limit of 10 Bq/L. The absorbed dose rates of 5.0 ×10-1 nGy/h and annual effective dose rates of 6.2 ×10-1 µSv/year were found to be lower than the WHO-specified average limit. The internal and external hazard indexes were below the UNSCEAR-recommended threshold, indicating no significant health risks to the public.
AB - Groundwater is the most valuable resource in arid regions, such as UAE. Estimations of natural radionuclide concentrations are important to evaluate the potential risks to the public. In this study, the activity concentrations (ACs) of naturally occurring radioactive materials in groundwater from wells across UAE were determined using gamma spectroscopy. Forty groundwater samples were collected from different sites across UAE and measured using gamma-ray spectrometry technique. The samples were collected from agricultural areas, which represents a small area of the UAE. The AC of 226Ra ranged from 2.61 ×10-1 to 4.14 ×10-1 Bq/L, with a mean value of 3.37 ×10-1 ± 0.063 Bq/L. For 232Th, the AC ranged from 1.55 ×10-1 to 2.93 ×10-1 Bq/L, with a mean value of 2.24 ×10-1 ± 0.056 Bq/L. The mean ACs for 226Ra and 232Th were lower than the recommended limit of 1 Bq/L by the World Health Organization (WHO). The AC of 40K ranged from 3.24 to 6.8 Bq/L, with a mean value of 5.0 ± 0.122 Bq/L. Similarly, the mean AC for 40K was lower than the WHO-recommended limit of 10 Bq/L. The absorbed dose rates of 5.0 ×10-1 nGy/h and annual effective dose rates of 6.2 ×10-1 µSv/year were found to be lower than the WHO-specified average limit. The internal and external hazard indexes were below the UNSCEAR-recommended threshold, indicating no significant health risks to the public.
KW - Gamma-ray spectrometry
KW - Primordial radioactivity levels
KW - United Arab Emirates
KW - Water samples
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U2 - 10.1007/s10967-021-08021-2
DO - 10.1007/s10967-021-08021-2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85116769091
SN - 0022-4081
VL - 330
SP - 923
EP - 928
JO - Journal of Radioanalytical Chemistry
JF - Journal of Radioanalytical Chemistry
IS - 3
ER -