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Water radon risk in Susunia hill area: an assessment in terms of radiation dose

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Abstract

Radiological impact of radon in air is a global issue whereas radon in water has local consequences. Considering its importance, we have conducted a study on radon activity measurements in 316 tube-well water samples collected from Susunia hill area in Bankura district of West Bengal, India during the period of 25th December 2018–2nd February 2020. Radon contents are measured using AlphaGUARD radon monitor. The obtained radon activities in drinking water samples lie between 1.78 ± 0.07 and 3213.50 ± 77.32 Bq/l with an average of 128.30 ± 14.09 Bq/l. This study reveals that 93% of the samples have radon levels in excess of the USEPA proposed maximum contamination level (MCL) of 11.1 Bq/l while radon levels of 40% samples have exceeded the WHO and EU Council Directive recommended reference level of 100 Bq/l. The total annual effective dose of the samples have been estimated by considering the per day water intake of 3 l. The calculated total annual effective dose widely fluctuates between 10.39 and 18649.55 μSv/year with an average value of 744.59 μSv/year. 269 water samples have exceeded the WHO and EU Council Directive recommended reference level of 100 μSv/year. However, if we consider the UNSCEAR prescribed annual water intake of 60 l, the average dose becomes 279.82 μSv/year. The situation demands attention of the local authorities. Local people are advised to take some easy preventive measures for their radiological protection against such contamination.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are very thankful to Mr. Falguni Karmakar and local people of the study area for their great support and cooperation.

Funding

The authors acknowledge the financial support given under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan 2.0 (RUSA 2.0) program of Jadavpur University and DST FIST project of the department of Physics, Jadavpur University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700032, India

    Arindam Kumar Naskar, Mahasin Gazi, Mitali Mondal & Argha Deb

  2. Department of Physics, Bangabasi Evening College, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700009, India

    Arindam Kumar Naskar

  3. Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, 58 Canal Circular Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700054, India

    Mahasin Gazi

  4. School of Studies in Environmental Radiation and Archaeological Sciences, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700032, India

    Mitali Mondal & Argha Deb

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  1. Arindam Kumar Naskar
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  4. Argha Deb
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Contributions

Arindam Kumar Naskar analyzed and interpreted the water radon data regarding this survey. Arindam Kumar Naskar and Mahasin Gazi collected the water samples and measured the radon activity by using the Alpha Guard radon monitor and pH of the water samples by using pH meter. Arindam Kumar Naskar was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. The overall corrections are made by Mitali Mondal and Argha Deb. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Argha Deb.

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Naskar, .K., Gazi, M., Mondal, M. et al. Water radon risk in Susunia hill area: an assessment in terms of radiation dose. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 11160–11171 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16362-4

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