S. Ben Byju, A. Sunil, M.j. Reeba, E.p. Christa, V.k. Vaidyan, R. Prasad, Dr. P.j. Jojo,
Volume 10, Issue 1 (6-2012)
Abstract
Background: The South-west coast of India is
known to have very high levels of natural background
radiation due to the monazite beach sand. Uranium is
the heaviest trace element found in all terrestrial
substances at varying levels with chemical and radio
toxicities. It supports several short-lived radioisotopes
in its decay series including radium. Uranium in
drinking water is important in terms of the ingestion
dose. Materials and Methods: The present study
reports the results of uranium analysis of 346
drinking water samples from the three costal districts
of Kerala using fission track registration technique.
Results: Results obtained show that uranium
concentrations vary from 0.31 μg/l to 4.92 μg/l
equivalent to the specific activity of 3.9 Bq/m3 and
62 Bq/m3, respectively. Conclusion: The estimated
daily intake of uranium through drinking water is
lower than the recommended limits. The distribution
of uranium in water bodies shows a heterogeneous
nature of distribution. Iran. J. Radiat. Res., 2012 10(1):
31-36
