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A Preliminary Appraisal of Radon Concentration in Groundwater from the High Background Radiation Area (HBRA) of Coastal Kerala

  • Research Article
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Journal of the Geological Society of India

Abstract

Parts of the coastal tracts of southern Kerala, India are among the well-known High Background Radiation Areas (HBRA) of the world, attributed to the presence of radionuclides in the monaziterich beach sand deposits. A comparative study of the radon concentrations in groundwater in the high and normal background radiation areas in the coastal tract has been taken up using analytical data of 24 ground water samples collected from tube wells of ranging in depth from 6.0 to 300.0 m. The radon concentration in the samples ranged from 0.88 to 25.80 Bq.L−1. The mean radon concentration in the study area, including those from the HBRA are within the maximum contamination levels of 300 pCi.L−1 (11.10 Bq.L−1) recommended by the United States Environmental Protection Agency except for a sample collected from Chavara. Groundwater from the high background radiation areas has significantly higher concentrations of radon ranging from 2.84 — 25.80 Bq.L−1 when compared to the normal background areas where the concentrations range from 0.86 — 7.46 Bq.L−1. Radon concentration does not show significant correlation with depth of sampled wells. The mean annual effective doses of ingestion and inhalation from water-borne radon, though comparatively higher in HBRA, are well below the average doses reported from all natural sources.

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Acknowledgements

The sampling and analysis of groundwater was carried out under a study taken up by the Central Ground Water Board, Kerala Region, Thiruvananthapuram during 2013–14. The authors are thankful to the Chairmen, Shri Sushil Gupta, Chairman (Retd.) and Shri. K B Biswas for granting permission to conduct the study and for publication of the paper. Thanks are also due to Dr. R C Jain, Member (SAM) and Shri K Md. Najeeb, Member (TT & WQ), Central Ground Water Board for their encouragement, as also to the Regional Director, CGWB, Bengaluru for making RAD 7 instrument available for work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central Ground Water Board, Bhujal Bhawan, NH 4, Faridabad, 121 001, India

    P. Nandakumaran

  2. Central Ground Water Board, Kerala Region, KEDARAM, Kesavadasapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, 695 004, India

    N. Vinayachandran

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  1. P. Nandakumaran
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Correspondence to P. Nandakumaran.

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Nandakumaran, P., Vinayachandran, N. A Preliminary Appraisal of Radon Concentration in Groundwater from the High Background Radiation Area (HBRA) of Coastal Kerala. J Geol Soc India 95, 491–496 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-020-1466-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-020-1466-4

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