Radium measurements in bottled natural mineral-, spring- and medicinal waters from Poland

Abstract

In the last few years in Poland consumption of natural bottled mineral and spring waters is growing. Waters are taken from surface springs or shallow wells. On the other hand, highly mineralized waters used in medical treatment are extracted from deep-bored wells. Due to the origin of the water, it may contain naturally occurring radioactive isotopes. The most important radionuclides are 226Ra, 228Ra, 210Pb and 210Po as they could contribute to the effective dose in the greatest degree due to consumption by people. In the frame of the work, radium isotopes were determined in bottled waters which are easily accessible throughout Poland as well in medicinal water, directly sampled from health resorts. Concentration of radium isotopes was measured by liquid scintillation spectrometry after chemical separation. The highest dose calculated for a member of public was 0.0291 mSv/year which accounts for about 20% of the parametric value for drinking water.