The Sources of High-Let Radiation

Through the crust of the earth,EPTWFU01 Water Filters the radionuclides from the decay of thorium-232 and uranium-238 are extensively distributed. Many of them are known as alpha-emitters. It includes radon, polonium, as well as radium.

The uranium concentrations in the drinking water ware extremely variable, and it ranges from 0.02 to 200 ug per liter in the sources of the drinking water.

Meanwhile, the content of thorium in the drinking water has not been extensively measured. However, its concentration in the human skeleton is around 1 fCi per gram of ask. As such, the abundance of uranium in the human skeleton is said to be 10 times greater.

In the drinking water, studies have shown that the natural alpha-emitters are bone seekers. As such, radium -226 and radium -228 can have a great potential of producing harmful radiation doses to man.

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The radium -226 fresh surface water content is variable, and it can range from 0.01 to 0.1 pCi per liter. Meanwhile, some groundwater resources can contain up to 100 pCi per liter. As such, the drinking water from the surface water supplies does not contain in general significant amounts of radium. With this, treatment processes like water softening and flocculation can remove the majority of the radium from the water.

There is an area in the Midwest of America wherein the groundwater contains significant amounts of radium-228 and radium-226. This area is in Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin. In the 1960s, the states have around 1 million persons.

The weighted mean concentration of radium-226 can be estimated to be 5 pCi per liter. According to studies, around 500,000 people in Iowa and Illinois have been drinking water which is contaminated with radium -226 of about 3 to 6 pCi per liter. Meanwhile, there are around 300,000 people who consume 6-9 pCi per liter, and around 200,000 people who live in areas with 9-80 pCi per liter of radium-226.

Also, the researchers stated that 113,000 people drink water that has 20 pCi per liter and 5,700 people drink 20-25 pCi per liter. In one community with around 1,200 persons, their well had 80 pCi per liter of radium -226. Now, they use water well with only 3 pCi per liter.

In a survey conducted in 1966, the researchers have found out that the water supplies have more than 3 pCi of radium-226 each liter in areas like those in the Northern Midwest. Such supplies cater to around 145,000 people. With the data provided, there are around 1.1 million people in the United States who consume water which contains around 3 pCi per liter of radium-226.

Furthermore, the major contributory element to the alpha-emission in the drinking water can be because of the decay of radium-228. However, there are other alpha-emitting natural that can be found in the drinking water. They occur in just small concentrations.

For example, in water analysis, water sample that contains 5 pCi of radium-228 each liter is found to have less than 0.02 pCi per liter of isotopes and thorium. Also, it contains around 0.03 pCi per liter of uranium.

There can be two other radium isotopes found in the drinking water. Radium -224 and radium-223 can contribute to the gross alpha activity of the water measured after drawing water from the tap. However, their contributions to the long-term dose in the skeleton can be negligible due to their short half-lives.

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However, the radium-228 which is decayed by beta emission and does not actually contribute to the gross alpha activity in the drinking water can give rise to a series of alpha-emitting products. The radium-228 and radium-226 can produce the major alpha particle dose in the body tissues as well as in the skeleton. As such when talking about the presence of radium in the drinking water, it is crucial to distinguish the isotopic mixture in the long-term alpha dose and the freshly drawn drinking water.4396841 Water Filters