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Natural radioactivity in tap waters from the private wells in the surroundings of the former Žirovski Vrh uranium mine and the age-dependent dose assessment

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Abstract

Activity concentration of 238U, 234U, 226Ra, 228Ra, 210Pb and 210Po in tap water from selected springs and private wells in the area of the former uranium mine at Žirovski Vrh were determined. A total of 22 tap water samples were collected at consumer’s houses. The results show that the activity concentrations of uranium in water samples are in range (0.17–372) and (0.22–362) mBq L−1 for 238U and 234U, respectively. Radium activity concentrations are in range (0.14–16.7) and (0.9–11.7) mBq L−1 for 226Ra and 228Ra, respectively. 210Po activity concentration is in range (0.28–8.0) mBq L−1 and can be regarded as the lowest amongst all analysed radionuclides. The range for 210Pb is (0.5–24.6) mBq L−1. Based on the results obtained for activity concentrations of six radionuclides, the committed effective dose for three different age groups of population were estimated. It was found that the committed effective dose was well below the recommended value of 100 μSv year−1, ranging from 2.3 to 34.3 μSv year−1 for adults, from 3.5 to 32.0 μSv year−1 for children (7–12 years) and from 3.0 to 23.3 μSv year−1 for infants.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of Slovenia (Project P1-0143). We acknowledge the assistance of the Žirovski Vrh uranium mine in the sampling.

Compliance with ethical standards

All authors declare that this work is original. The presented research does not involve human participants and/or animals. All authors read the manuscript and agreed with the publishing.

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Ljudmila Benedik

  2. Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 5, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Leja Rovan & Helena Prosen

  3. Žirovski Vrh Mine Ltd., Todraž 1, 4224, Gorenja vas, Slovenia

    Hiacinta Klemenčič & Ivan Gantar

Authors
  1. Ljudmila Benedik
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  2. Leja Rovan
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  3. Hiacinta Klemenčič
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  4. Ivan Gantar
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  5. Helena Prosen
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Correspondence to Ljudmila Benedik.

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Responsible editor: Stuart Simpson

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Benedik, L., Rovan, L., Klemenčič, H. et al. Natural radioactivity in tap waters from the private wells in the surroundings of the former Žirovski Vrh uranium mine and the age-dependent dose assessment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 12062–12072 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4481-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4481-z

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