HUMAN KIDNEY AND SKELETON URANIUM BURDEN, RADIATION DOSE AND HEALTH RISKS FROM HIGH URANIUM CONTENTS IN DRINKING WATER OF BATHINDA DISTRICT (MALWA REGION) OF PUNJAB STATE, INDIA

Abstract

Uranium concentration has been measured in drinking water samples from the Bathinda district. It ranges from 2.4 to 529 µg/l with a mean value of 120 µg/l. The mean uranium kidney burden for children and adults is 0.0838 and 0.059 µg U/g, respectively, which crosses the safe limit of 0.02 µg U/g. The mean values for skeleton burden are 1925.7 µg for children and 4108.2 µg for an adult. These values are 32 and 69 times higher than the skeleton burden of 59.4 µg for a normal adult. Radiological and chemical risk is also found to be higher than the recommended values. The mean effective ingestion dose for different age groups and genders is 188.2 µSv/y, while the safety limit is 100 µSv/y. The dose to the kidney, bone surface and bone marrow has also been evaluated. The observed values of the studied parameters show that people of this area may be at higher health risks corresponding to the intake of water; children may be the most affected.