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Uranium in groundwater from Western Haryana, India

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Abstract

This study was undertaken to assess uranium in groundwater and radiological and chemical risks associated with its ingestion in rural habitats in the vicinity of proposed nuclear power project in Western Haryana, India. Uranium concentration in the groundwater of the study area varied from 0.3 to 256.4 μg L−1. Radiological risk calculated in the form of average life time dose was found 5.1 × 10−2 mSv to the residents of the area from the ingestion of groundwater. The average cancer mortality and average cancer morbidity risk were calculated to be 4.9 × 10−6 and 7.7 × 10−6 respectively indicating the absence of carcinogenic risks. Chemical risk was in the range of 0.02–18.8 µg kg−1 day−1. Hazard quotient for 72 % samples was greater than unity which indicates health risk due to chemical toxicity of uranium in groundwater. The results indicate that uranium concentrations in the groundwater of the study area are important due to chemical risk than radiological risk.

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Notes

  1. The water consumption rate was taken as 4.05 L per day for an adult Indian [13].

  2. 4.5 × 10−8, 4.9 × 10−8 and 4.7 × 10−8 are the radioactivity dose conversion factors for U-238, U-234 and U-235 respectively [14].

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Acknowledgement

Authors are thankful to Board of Research in Nuclear Science, Department of Atomic Energy, (DAE-BRNS), Mumbai, India for providing the financial assistance to conduct this research work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Physics, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, 125001, Haryana, India

    Balvinder Singh & Nawal Kishore

  2. Centre for Radio-ecology, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, 125001, Haryana, India

    V. K. Garg & Poonam Yadav

  3. Health Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India

    Vandana Pulhani

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  1. Balvinder Singh
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  2. V. K. Garg
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  4. Nawal Kishore
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Correspondence to V. K. Garg.

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Singh, B., Garg, V.K., Yadav, P. et al. Uranium in groundwater from Western Haryana, India. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 301, 427–433 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-014-3133-y

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