Assessment of gross α and β radioactivity for drinking water in Hatay province, Turkey

Abstract

In this study, the radioactivity analysis was performed in drinking water of Hatay province which is in the southeast region of Turkey. Using ten channels low-level proportional counter, the average “gross α” and “gross β” activity concentrations of the 39 water samples were measured as 36.69 and 116.36 mBq/L, respectively. All values of the “gross α” and “gross β” were lower than the limit values of 500 and 1,000 mBq/L, recommended by World Health Organization (WHO). The average annual effective doses were calculated to be 7.50 μSv for the α-emitters and 58.61 μSv for the β-emitters. The results obtained in this study indicate that the average annual effective doses for all water samples are below the reference level as 0.1 mSv, recommended by WHO.

Keywords:

• Radioactivity
• Gross α
• Gross β
• Annual effective dose
• Water
• Hatay

Acknowledgment

The author TURGAY declares his thanks to Selim Dumanoglu, Murat Cerci, and Mujdat Yilmaz, the graduate students in Mustafa Kemal University, Hatay, for their kind assistance during the collection of the samples in the area. Also declares his thanks to Yakup Hames and Ibrahim Yakar, from Mustafa Kemal University too.