41st WORLD CONGRESS OF International

Society of Medical Hydrology and Climatology

41st WORLD CONGRESS OF
International Society of Medical
Hydrology and Climatology

Assessment of quality parameters and of natural

radionuclides concentrations in natural mineral
water in Romania
Marian Romeo Calin, Ileana Radulescu, Alina Catrinel Ion

SALMROM laboratory, Life and Environmental Physics Department,

Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear
Engineering (IFIN-HH)
Introduction
Samples of natural mineral water, from 10 different
springs, originating from the Bucovina region, which is
located in the northern part of Romania.
o Radiometric measurements
Gross alpha and beta activities for screening
purposes ;
Activity concentrations of 40K, 238U, 232Th and 226Ra
(gamma) - associate effective dose;
oPhysical-chemical parameters

The mean effective doses for an adult member

of the public in Romania derived from the
intake of naturally occurring alpha or beta According to WHO
radionuclides: guidelines, the
40
K 0.66 2.17 Sv/yr recommended screening
238
U 1.12 - 1.71 Sv/yr levels for drinking water
232
Th 1.79 3.95 Sv/yr below which no further
226
Ra 5.75 20.61 Sv/yr action is required, are 0.5
Materials and Methods

Gross alphabeta measurements were performed

using the low background system PROTEAN ORTEC
MPC-2000-DP.

A coaxial p-type HPGe detector (model GEM 25P4,

Ortec Inc., Easley, SC, USA, 35% rel. ef., 1.73 keV
en. res.) was used for gamma measurements.

Analyses of several physical-chemical parameters

for the purity of water: pH, electric conductivity, ion
concentrations of: K+, Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+, Cl- SO42-,
HCO3-, CO2 and Fetotal.
Reliability and traceability
Traceability of the equipment is assured by using
radioactive standards provided by RML IFIN-HH and IAEA.

IAEA reference samples Measurement samples

Results
Mineral waters chemical data: pH, electrical conductivity
(C.e.) and major ion composition analyzed each month for
30 months for a carbonated water
Month pH C.e. (S/cm) HCO3-(mg/L) Cl-(mg/L) SO42-(mg/L) Na+ (mg/L) K+ (mg/L) Ca2+ (mg/L) Mg2+ (mg/L)

1 5.91 1714 1312 1.4 7.0 3.0 1.4 272 83.0

2 5.87 1699 1231 1.0 8.2 2.9 1.5 266 80.5
3 5.89 1614 1181 2.8 10.3 3.5 1.4 260 71.3
4 5.95 1567 1150 3.5 14.6 5.0 1.8 253 68.9
5 6.02 1690 1244 1.7 10.3 5.2 2.9 273 73.9
6 5.90 1708 1244 1.7 17.9 3.6 2.0 275 74.7
7 6.06 1792 1312 2.5 13.5 3.7 1.8 285 76.0
8 6.01 1629 1208 7.4 8.7 4.5 1.5 276 69.8
9 6.00 1780 1296 5.9 8.6 4.2 1.8 301 72.6
10 6.00 1818 1318 6.7 8.3 4.2 1.6 305 73.8
11 6.17 1648 1219 7.3 9.3 4.3 1.8 280 70.4
12 6.14 1821 1338 6.8 8.2 3.9 1.7 310 75.6
13 6.17 1840 1355 5.2 8.5 4.5 2.3 315 76.1
14 6.23 1740 1327 6.4 9.0 5.3 1.8 307 76.4
15 6.15 1772 1364 6.4 11.0 5.6 2.1 311 77.9
16 6.10 1716 1311 6.0 16.8 5.5 3.3 292 78.8
17 6.12 1881 1342 6.8 12.6 6.4 2.8 308 77.3
18 5.98 1851 1342 7.1 13.0 6.1 3.4 298 83.7
19 6.09 1840 1336 6.4 10.6 4.7 3.4 300 85.0
20 6.19 1883 1342 6.4 11.5 5.9 3.4 306 76.9
21 6.04 1838 1342 6.0 10.8 5.9 3.4 299 81.2
22 6.00 1747 1312 5.3 17.1 4.8 2.0 286 83.7
23 6.04 1765 1320 5.7 15.2 5.0 3.2 288 81.6
24 6.03 1746 1281 4.6 18.1 5.3 3.0 286 78.1
25 6.09 1613 1251 4.3 18.2 4.7 1.7 268 85.9
26 6.13 1622 1190 4.3 24.3 5.1 2.9 265 75.0
27 6.15 1723 1251 3.9 22.3 4.9 2.8 270 80.8
28 5.97 1715 1220 3.6 24.3 4.4 3.9 266 80.1
29 5.94 1588 1200 3.6 15.7 5.5 2.0 216 87.8
30 6.13 1679 1220 6.0 15.8 4.3 3.0 262 87.5

Mean 1 6.05 0.10 1735 88 1278 60 4.9 1.90 13.3 4.8 4.7 0.9 2.4 0.7 283 22 78.1 5.1
Physico-chemical parameters correlations
HCO3- (mg/L) vs.
electrical conductivity
(S/cm) plot for the
dataset

Na+ + K+ (mg/L) vs. HCO3-

(mg/L) plot from the data set

Ca2+ + Mg2+ (mg/L) vs.

HCO3- (mg/L) plot from the
 DETR [Sv/yr] =

(10)

Results
The activity concentration [mBq/L] for gross alpha, where:
DETR is the annual
gross beta and annual effective dose [Sv/year] for
effective ingestion
natural mineral water dose in Sv/yr
Annual Effective
Sample code Residue [g/L] Gross Alpha [mBq/L] Gross Beta [mBq/L] Dose/DEFF Ci is radionuclide
[Sv/year]
activity
Year 2012 - 2014 2012 - 2014 2012 - 2014 2012 - 2014 concentration in the
SW 1 1.0007 30.93 2.41 1.84 0.20 32.26 water sample in
SW 2 0.1963 2.25 0.76 7.45 1.40 12.42 Bq/L
SW 3 0.1894 MDA MDA 17.58 K is the annual
SW 4 0.1871 0.40 0.20 4.80 1.40 8.98
consumption rate of
SW 5 0.1872 4.05 1.70 47.45 29.42 11.84
150 L for infants,
SW 6 0.1821 2.35 1.05 16.00 2.18 10.53
350 L for children
SW 7 0.1428 5.30 2.60 4.80 1.40 9.35
and 500 L for adults
SW 8 0.1515 1.55 0.41 12.90 3.42 11.45
SW 9 1.5370 45.40 5.50 5.28 0.34 40.06
according to the
SW 10 0.2886 17.10 7.80 1.51 0.70 2.37
UNSCEAR 2000
Fi is the dose
Mean 1 0.4063 12.15 1.31 11.34 3.31 15.68
coefficient of the
Range 0.1428 1.5370 MDA 45.40 5.50 MDA 47.45 29.42 2.37 40.06 relevant
radionuclide for
each age group
given in the
International Basic
Results

The activity concentrations of 40K, 238U, 232Th and

226
Ra in the residue of the natural mineral water
samples
Sample code 40
K [Bq/L] 238
U [Bq/L] 232
Th [Bq/L] 226
Ra [Bq/L]

Year 2012 - 2014 2012 - 2014 2012 - 2014 2012 - 2014

SW 1 0.74 0.06 0.086 0.009 0.020 0.003 0.28 0.05

SW 2 0.60 0.04 0.095 0.011 0.0083 0.0010 0.086 0.03

SW 3 0.66 0.07 0.17 0.02 MDA 0.13 0.03

SW 4 0.14 0.03 0.070 0.008 0.036 0.004 0.044 0.005

SW 5 0.57 0.05 0.080 0.007 0.013 0.002 0.087 0.03

SW 6 0.35 0.04 0.064 0.007 MDA 0.089 0.02

SW 7 0.27 0.03 0.09 0.01 MDA 0.071 0.01

SW 8 0.27 0.03 0.050 0.006 MDA 0.11 0.02

SW 9 0.87 0.08 0.088 0.010 0.047 0.005 0.32 0.03

SW 10 0.61 0.06 0.060 0.005 MDA MDA

Mean 1 0.51 0.10 0.085 0.022 0.025 0.005 0.14 0.06

Range 0.14 0.03 0.87 0.08 0.050 0.006 - 0.17 0.02 MDA - 0.047 0.005 0.044 0.005 - 0.28 0.05
Variation of activity concentrations for natural mineral water in
European countries
K activity
40 238
U activity
concentrations range in concentrations range
natural mineral water in natural mineral
water
40
1400 K 238
300 U
1200

Activity concentration [mBq/L]

270
Activity concentration [mBq/L]

1000
240
210
800
180

600 150
120
400
90
200 60
30
0
0
Variation of activity concentrations for natural mineral water in
European countries
226
Ra activity
concentrations range
1400
226
Ra in natural mineral
water
Activity concentration [mBq/L]

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0
Results
Total effective doses [Sv/yr] for an adult member of the
public in Romania resulting from intake of naturally occurring
alpha or beta radionuclides (40K, 238U, 232Th and 226Ra) in
natural mineral water
Sample code 40
K [Sv/yr] 238
U [Sv/yr] 232
Th [Sv/yr] 226
Ra [Sv/yr]

Year 2012 - 2014 2012 - 2014 2012 - 2014 2012 - 2014

SW 1 1.66 1.42 12.25 28.62

SW 2 1.35 1.56 1.93 8.87

SW 3 1.50 2.80 nd 13.28

SW 4 0.32 1.15 3.20 4.49

SW 5 1.30 1.50 1.10 8.87

SW 6 0.79 1.05 nd 8.70

SW 7 0.61 1.48 nd 7.26

SW 8 0.61 0.82 nd 10.74

SW 9 1.87 1.45 3.95 32.70

SW 10 1.38 1.00 nd nd

Mean/SW 1.14 1.42 4.49 13.73

Range 0.32 1.87 0.82 2.80 1.10 12.25 4.49 32.70

nd: Not determined

Results
The variation of the mean annual effective
doses for the ten water springs analyzed
Results

Analysis of the dose contribution fraction from

potassium, uranium, thorium and radium

Dose fraction Dose fraction Dose fraction Dose fraction

Sample code
from 40K (%) From 238U (%) from 232Th (%) from 226Ra (%)

SW 1 3.79 3.23 27.87 65.12

SW 2 9.85 11.38 14.08 64.70
SW 3 8.53 15.92 nd 75.54
SW 4 3.49 12.55 34.93 49.01
SW 5 10.18 11.75 8.61 69.46
SW 6 7.50 9.96 nd 82.54
SW 7 6.52 15.82 nd 77.64
SW 8 5.01 6.74 nd 88.25
SW 9 4.68 3.63 9.88 81.81
SW 10 57.98 42.02 nd nd
Mean 11.75 13.30 19.07 72.67
Conclusion
Ten springs of natural mineral water were investigated regarding K,
40

238
U, 232Th and 226
Ra. Range of Activity Range of effective dose
Nuclide
Concentration (Bq/L) (Sv/yr)
226
Ra 0.021 0.45 2.96 46.00
232
Th 0.0083 0.047 1.00 3.95
40
K 0.14 1.28 0.32 2.90
238
U 0.040 0.17 0.66 2.80

All effective doses are well below the reference level of the committed
effective dose (100 Sv/yr) recommended by the WHO.
The assessment must be done continuously to get consistent data
with international rules. Analyzes done on samples of natural waters are
consistent with the Directive 2009/54/EC of the European Parliament. The
obtained data provide basic information for consumers and competent
authorities to be aware of radiation effects on human health.
The assessment presented on the natural radioactivity in natural
mineral water samples comes to update at least some data on the
activity concentrations and effective doses due to intake of natural
radionuclides. For instance data presented in Annex B (IAEA, Safety
Standards) regarding the concentrations of uranium and thorium series
radionuclides in food and drinking water are older than 20 years.
THANK YOU