Evaluation of the radiation dose from radon ingestion and inhalation in drinking water

Abstract

Radon and its radioactive progenies in indoor places are recognized as the main sources of public exposure from the natural radioactive sources. The tap water used for drinking and other household uses can increase the indoor radon level. In the present research, drinking water samples were collected from various places and supplies of public water used in Mashhad city which has about 4 million population. Then radon concentration has been measured by PRASSI system three times for each sample. Results show that about 75% of water samples have radon concentration gathered than 10 Bq/L which advised EPA as a normal level. According to measurements data, the arithmetic mean of radon concentration for all samples was 16.238 ± 9.322 Bq/L. Similarly, the annual effective dose in stomach and lung per person has been evaluated in this research. According to the advice of WHO and EU Council, just 2 samples induced the total annual effective dose greater than 0.1 mSv/y.   Key words: Radon, effective dose, drinking water, PRASSI system, Mashhad city.