STUDIES ON RADON CONCENTRATION IN UNDERGROUND WATER OF IDAH, NIGERIA

A. Aruwa; A. A. Kassimu; P. M. Gyuk; B. Ahmadu; J. O. Aniegbu

doi:10.29121/granthaalayah.v5.i9.2017.2242

Authors

A. Aruwa Department of Science Laboratory Technology, Federal Polytechnic, Idah, Nigeria
A. A. Kassimu Airforce Research and Development Center Kaduna, Nigeria
P. M. Gyuk Department of Physics, Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria
B. Ahmadu Department of Physics, Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria
J. O. Aniegbu Department of Physics, Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v5.i9.2017.2242

Keywords:

Radon, Ground Water, 222Rn Concentration, Idah, Stomach Cancer, Maximum Contamination Level

Abstract [English]

Studies on ground water samples from selected boreholes and wells in Idah were carried out to determine the concentration of radon (²²²Rn) using the Liquid Scintillation Counter (LSC). The average concentration of radon obtained was 14.09±1.10 BqL^-1 for boreholes and 13.45±1.00 BqL^-1 for well waters. The overall average concentration of 13.77±1.05 BqL^-1 was recorded. The results obtained in this work were compared with the maximum contamination level (MCL) of 11.1 BqL^-1 set by USEPA and the world average value of 10.0 BqL^-1 for drinking water and it was observed that 80% of the samples exceeded these values. The average annual effective dose by ingestion of 0.051mSvy^-1 was recorded for boreholes and 0.049mSvy^-1 for well water samples. All values of effective dose were below the ICRP recommended intervention level of 3-10mSvy^-1.

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