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Investigation of isotopic ratio (234U/238U), chemotoxicity and radiotoxicity of dissolved uranium in selected groundwater of Bangladesh

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Abstract

The activity concentrations of 238U and 234U in groundwater samples collected from different locations in Bangladesh were measured by alpha spectrometric method. Activity concentrations of 238U and 234U were found to be 4.76–8.22 mBqL−1 and 3.24–6.48 mBqL−1 respectively. The calculated 234U/238U isotopic ratio varied from 0.58 to 0.94, suggesting that most of the groundwater exhibit nuclear disequilibrium (234U/238U < 1). Isotopic ratio of 234U/238U less than unity in groundwater could be related to the ‘alpha-recoil emplacement’ mechanism of daughter nuclides. In this study, the radiotoxicity and chemotoxicity risk of dissolved uranium in groundwater were calculated. The average ingestion dose of 234U and 238U for infants, children, adults were found to be 0.06, 0.09, 0.18 μSvy−1 and 0.08, 0.11, 0.22 μSvy−1 respectively.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Health Physics Division, Atomic Energy Centre, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh for providing laboratory support to carry out this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh

    Saiful Islam & Pradip K. Bakshi

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Barishal, Barishal, Bangladesh

    Prianka Banik

  3. Health Physics Division, Atomic Energy Centre, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Jannatul Ferdous

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  1. Saiful Islam
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Correspondence to Saiful Islam.

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Islam, S., Banik, P., Ferdous, J. et al. Investigation of isotopic ratio (234U/238U), chemotoxicity and radiotoxicity of dissolved uranium in selected groundwater of Bangladesh. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 332, 2571–2580 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-023-08914-4

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