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Radon in drinking water in Mexico City

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Abstract

This study shows the 222Rn concentration levels registered in 45 wells of the federal water supply system of Mexico City. Mexico City is one of the most populated cities in the world and has considerable telluric activity. Despite these two facts, there are no studies that analyze radon concentration levels in water supplied by the government. The values obtained show a concentration that ranges between 0.11 and 2.4 Bq L−1, levels below those recommended by the World Health Organization.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish thanks to Marco Veytia, Alberto Garcia, Moises Cuautle, Neptali Gonzalez, and Javier Martinez for their technical help. This work was partially supported by UNAM-DGAPAPAPIIT Project IN103316.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Condensed Matter, Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico

    Abraham Lima-Flores, Jose-Ignacio Golzarri & Guillermo Espinosa

  2. Department of Molecular Engineering of Materials, Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla, 76230, Querétaro, Mexico

    Víctor M. Castaño

  3. Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico

    Allan C. Chavarría-Sánchez

Authors
  1. Abraham Lima-Flores
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  2. Víctor M. Castaño
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  3. Jose-Ignacio Golzarri
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  4. Allan C. Chavarría-Sánchez
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  5. Guillermo Espinosa
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation were performed by AL-F, J-IG and GE. Data collection were performed by AL-F, J-IG, VMC and GE. Samples measurement and analysis of the results were performed by all authors. The first draft of the manuscript was written by J-IG and GG and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Abraham Lima-Flores.

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Lima-Flores, A., Castaño, V.M., Golzarri, JI. et al. Radon in drinking water in Mexico City. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 329, 527–536 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-07849-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-07849-y

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