Estimation of Radon Concentration in Soil and Groundwater Samples of Northern Rajasthan, India

Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences xxx (2015) 1e6

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Estimation of radon concentration in soil and groundwater samples of Northern Rajasthan, India

* Sudhir Mittal a, , Asha Rani b, Rohit Mehra c a Department of Applied Sciences, Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar 144601, Punjab, India b Department of Applied Science, Ferozepur College of Engineering and Technology, Farozshah, Ferozepur 142052, Punjab, India c Department of Physics, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar 144011, India article info abstract

Article history: In the present investigation, analysis of radon concentration in 20 water and soil samples Received 26 August 2015 collected from different locations of Bikaner and Jhunjhunu districts of Rajasthan, India Received in revised form has been carried out by using RAD7 an electronic Radon detector. The measured radon 16 September 2015 concentration in water samples lies in the range from 0.50 to 22 Bq l 1 with the mean value Accepted 24 October 2015 of 4.42 Bq l 1, which lies within the safe limit from 4 to 40 Bq l 1 recommended by United Available online xxx Nations Scientiﬁc Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR, 2008). The total annual effective dose estimated due to radon concentration in water ranges from 1.37 to Keywords: 60.06 mSV y 1 with the mean value of 12.08 mSV y 1, which is lower than the safe limit Radon concentrations 0.1 mSv y 1 as set by World Health Organization (WHO, 2004) and European Council (EU, Annual effective dose 1998). Radon measurement in soil samples varies from 941 to 10,050 Bq m 3 with the mean RAD7 value of 4561 Bq m 3, which lies within the range reported by other investigators. It was Soil gas observed that the soil and water of Bikaner and Jhunjhunu districts are suitable for Groundwater drinking and construction purpose without posing any health hazard. Copyright © 2015, The Egyptian Society of Radiation Sciences and Applications. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

radon. When the radon gas is inhaled in to the lungs, most of it 1. Introduction is pumped out and does not build up in the respiratory system. However small fraction of the radon that reaches the interior The soil and water have different radon concentrations due to region of the lungs can damage the DNA in sensitive lung which its exposure to inhabitants varies substantially from tissue and cause cancer. Moreover radon decay products that 222 place to place (UNSCEAR, 1988). Two of the Rn descendent, are suspended in air are inhaled during breathing in our res- 214 218 a Po and Po, are emitters, and they contribute over 90% to piratory system. Due to the short half life period of radon the total radiation dose received due to radon exposure decay products, they decay almost completely in the lungs. & (Gruber, Maringer, Landstetter, 2009). During these decays alpha particle is emitted which can The health hazard associated with radon arises from the transfer large amount of energy to vulnerable cells in lungs, inhalation and ingestion of short lived decay products of thereby leading to many health hazards.

* Corresponding author. Department of Applied Sciences, Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar 144601, Punjab, India. Tel.: þ91 9501115260. E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Mittal). Peer review under responsibility of The Egyptian Society of Radiation Sciences and Applications. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrras.2015.10.006 1687-8507/Copyright © 2015, The Egyptian Society of Radiation Sciences and Applications. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Please cite this article in press as: Mittal, S., et al., Estimation of radon concentration in soil and groundwater samples of Northern Rajasthan, India, Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrras.2015.10.006 2 Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences xxx (2015) 1e6

Soil and water supply are the two major source of radon longitude. Fig. 1 shows the geographic location of Rajasthan in entering into home. Among which soil is the main source of India, as well as the location of the sampling sites. health problems caused due to radon gas. The health hazards Bikaner district is located in the North Western part of from radon in drinking water causes lung cancer, from inhaling Rajasthan. It is bounded between 27110 and 29030 North radon discharged from water used in the homes, and stomach latitude and 71540 and 74120 East longitude. In North it is cancer, from ingesting radon in drinking water (USEPA, 1991). bounded by Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh districts, in In our recent work, the activity concentration of natural East by Chum, in South by Jodhpur and Nagaur districts and radionuclides found in the soil samples of Jodhpur and Nagaur West partly by Jaisalmer districts and partly by Pakistan. Like districts of Rajasthan was higher than the permissible limit Nagaur district it is also a part of Thar Desert. The soil of (Rani, Mittal, Mehra, & Ramola, 2015). Geographically Jhunj- Bikaner district is predominantly light texture, weak structure hunu and Bikaner are adjoining districts to the reported areas. and well drained. The minerals commonly found in this dis- Radon originates from the decay of natural uranium and is a trict are lignite, gypsum, clay and limestone. progeny of radium that is present in soil and water. The radon Jhunjhunu district is situated in Northern part of Rajas- concentration in soil and ground water is proportional to than. It lies between 27380 and 28310 North latitude and radium concentration at a particular place. Hence the mea- 75020 and 76060 longitude. It is bounded by Churu and Sikar surement of radon concentration in water and soil of Jhunj- districts of Rajasthan in North-West, South-West and South- hunu and Bikaner districts of Rajasthan assumes signiﬁcance. East and Hisar and Mahendragarh districts of Haryana in Such a study will be helpful in determination whether the North-East. The South and North-East part of Jhunjhunu soil and water of these districts can be used for construction district is covered by Alwar group of rocks. Aravali hills are and drinking purpose without posing any health hazard to the also present in some areas of this district. Mainly Desertic inhabitants. However literature survey shows that no attempt andsanddunessoilsarefoundinthisdistrict.Outofthree has been made towards the measurement of radon concen- copper producing belts in India, the Khetri copper belt is tration in water and soil in Jhunjhunu and Bikaner districts of located in this district. The minerals commonly found in Rajasthan. In the present study the radon concentration in this district are copper, iron, cobalt, limestone, granite and water and soil from Jhunjhunu and Bikaner districts of marble. Rajasthan, India has been investigated systematically.

3. Experimental detail 2. Geology of the area The 0.7 L RAD7's internal sample cell hemisphere is coated Rajasthan is located in North West of India. It lies between inside with an electrical conductor. At the center of hemi- 23300 and 30110 north latitude and 69290 and 78170 east sphere a solid state, ion-implanted, planner, silicon alpha

Fig. 1 e The map showing the sample locations in Northern Rajasthan.

Please cite this article in press as: Mittal, S., et al., Estimation of radon concentration in soil and groundwater samples of Northern Rajasthan, India, Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrras.2015.10.006 Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences xxx (2015) 1e6 3

Fig. 2 e Schematic diagram of RAD7 soil-gas setup. detector (semiconductor) is placed which converts a radiation having pore size 1 mm for sucking the soil gas from the un- directly to an electrical signal. The inside of a conductor is derground soil. The depth of the sampling point is determined charged relative to the detector to a high potential of by the length of the probe inserted into the ground, taking into 2000e2500 V using a power circuit, thereby creating an electric the consideration the location of the sampling points on the field throughout the volume of cell which propels positively probe shaft. In order to prevent the mixing of soil gas with charge particle onto the detector. For determination of radon fresh air the hole was properly sealed around the probe. The concentration RAD7 uses only the polonium-218 and for soil gas is sucked through the tube pipe into the measuring thoron uses only polonium-216 signal. instrument for 5 min pumping phase and counts for four In order to analyze the radon concentration, the stainless 5 min cycles for getting the accurate results. During the soil steel probe (Durridge Co., USA) with holes near the tip was gas measurement at each site sniff protocol and grab mode inserted in the soil at a specific depth of 100 cm. Fig. 2 shows were used. the schematic diagram of soil gas monitoring using RAD7 Fig. 3 shows the schematic diagram of RAD H2O assembly. detector. The probe was then connected to RAD7 detector A radon tight regent bottle of 250 ml capacity has been used to through desiccant tube containing CaSO4 and inert filters collect the water samples. In order to measure the radon

e Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of RAD7 H2O assembly.

Please cite this article in press as: Mittal, S., et al., Estimation of radon concentration in soil and groundwater samples of Northern Rajasthan, India, Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrras.2015.10.006 4 Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences xxx (2015) 1e6

concentration from water samples the radon detector was mean value of 4.42 Bq l 1. Various health and environmental coupled with a bubbling kit. WAT 250 protocol and grab mode protection agencies have recommended different safe limits was used for radon measurements in the water samples. of radon in drinking water for human being. The United States Initially the inbuilt pump of RAD7 runs automatically for Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA, 1991) has recom- 5 min duration to aerate the sample and deliver the degassed mended 11 Bq l 1 of radon in water as the safe limit [3]. Radon radon to the RAD7 measuring chamber. After this time period concentration in all water samples of studied area is found the pump stops automatically and the system wait for another within the safe limit recommended by USEPA (1991), expect 5 min interval to start counting. After the 5 min of counting one (Khetri, radon concentration in water 22 Bq l 1). However period, the data along with the respective bar charts and cu- the safe limit of radon concentration in drinking water sam- mulative spectra of each sample are printed out on the printer ples recommended by United Nations Scientiﬁc Committee on attached with the instrument. The counting process repeats the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR, 2008)is4e40 Bq l 1. for total of four 5 min cycles to obtain precise results. All the drinking water samples lie within the safe limit rec- RAD7 do not allow to enter inside longer-lived radon ommended by UNSCEAR (2008). European Commission (EU, daughters or progenies. According to Environmental Protec- 2001) recommends 100 Bq l 1 of radon concentration in tion Agency (EPA) recommendations the RAD7 instrument drinking water samples as the safe limit. The measured radon must be calibrated at least once in every 6 month in a radon concentration in all the water samples is found to be well calibration chamber, so the instrument was calibrated within the safe limit approved by EU (2001). recently. In Table 2 a comparison of radon concentration in studied water samples from different locations is presented. From which it can be seen that the radon concentration in water 4. Results and discussion samples of Cyprus, Greece is in the close agreement with the present work. However for Iran, Brazil, Transylvania 4.1. Radon estimation and annual mean effective dose in (Romania), Bursa (Turkey), Kenya, Busan (South Korea) the drinking water radon concentration is higher where Pakistan, Hanumangarh and Sri Ganganagar (India) the concentration of radon is lower The measured value of radon concentration in 20 drinking than the reported values in the present investigation. water samples collected from Bikaner and Jhunjhunu districts The annual mean effective doses of drinking water sam- of Rajasthan, India are tabulated in Table 1. The water samples due to ingestion was calculated by using the parameters ples are taken from hand pumps and tube wells having depths established in UNSCEAR (2000): ranging from 50 to 600 feet. À Á 1 E $ nSvy ¼ C C ðEDCÞ (1) From Table 1 it is clearly seen that radon concentration in w Ig Rnw w drinking water samples varies from 0.50 to 22 Bq l 1 with the

Table 1 e Radon concentration in water and soil of Bikaner and Jhunjhunu districts of Rajasthan. Sr. No. Sample Temp Depth Radon conc. S.D Annual mean Radon conc. S.D location (C) (m) in water (Bq l 1) effective dose (mSv y 1) in soil (Bq m 3) (village) (Bq l 1) (Bq m 3) Ingestion Inhalation Total Bikaner District 1 Pugal 30.8 46 1.1 1.0 0.23 2.77 3 5980 50 2 Naal 29.3 91 6.2 1.2 1.30 15.62 16.92 8830 260 3 Kolyat Ji 30.1 122 6.7 1.4 1.41 16.88 18.29 3575 140 4 Nokha 31.1 110 2.4 0.6 0.50 6.05 6.55 7080 160 5 Deshnok 29.5 122 1.8 0.5 0.38 4.54 4.92 1180 80 6 Shri Dungargarh 32.6 49 2.8 0.9 0.59 7.06 7.65 7845 110 7 Kaloo 32.1 69 2.2 0.9 0.46 5.54 6 941 40 8 Lunkaransar 34.0 15 0.5 0.3 0.11 1.26 1.37 5250 210 9 Bikaner 33.5 137 4.2 1.1 0.88 10.58 11.46 6490 320 10 Jaimalsar 28.0 76 2.7 0.8 0.57 6.80 7.37 1562 90 Jhunjhunu District 11 Jhunjhunu 30.8 76 1.9 0.4 0.40 4.79 5.19 5630 180 12 Nawalgarh 29.8 122 3.1 0.7 0.65 7.81 8.46 3340 70 13 Borki 29.9 31 2.4 0.7 0.50 6.05 6.55 4170 220 14 Badagav 28.8 91 2.8 0.2 0.59 7.06 7.65 1250 60 15 Khetri 30.7 70 22 0.3 4.62 55.44 60.06 10,050 460 16 Shinghana 28.3 183 5.6 0.6 1.18 14.11 15.29 6780 370 17 Sultana 32.7 91 6.0 0.8 1.26 15.12 16.38 3248 120 18 Mandela 30.2 91 9.8 0.5 2.06 24.70 26.76 1496 60 19 Chidawa 29.5 61 3.2 1.2 0.67 8.06 8.73 1836 130 20 Dhandhuri 30.1 61 1.1 0.5 0.23 2.77 3 4680 170 Range 28.0e34.0 15e183 0.50e22 0.2e1.4 0.11e4.62 1.26e55.44 1.37e60.06 941e10050 40e460 Average 30.59 85.7 4.42 0.73 0.93 11.15 12.08 4560.65 165

Table 2 e Comparison of radon concentration in water under investigation with those in other countries. Sr. No. Region Radon conc. Reference in water (kBq m 3) 1 Northern Rajasthan (Bikaner and Jhunjhunu districts), India 0.50e22.0 Present investigation 2 Brazil 0.95e36 Marques, Santos, & Geraldo, 2004 3 Iran 0.064e49.1 Binesh, Mohammadi, Mowavi, & Parvaresh, 2010 4 Cyprus 0.3e20.0 Nikolopoulos & Louizi, 2008 5 Greece 0.8e24.0 Nikolopoulos & Louizi, 2008 6 Busan, South Korea 0e300.0 Cho, Ahn, Kim, & Lee, 2004 7 Pakistan 2.0e7.9 Manzoor, Alaamer, & Tahir, 2008 8 Hanumangarh and Sri Ganganagar districts of Northern Rajasthan, India 1.8e8.2 Duggal, Rani, & Mehra, 2012

where Ew$Ig is the effective dose for ingestion, CRn w is the radon 4.2. Radon estimation in soil 3 concentration in water (kBq m ), Cw is the weighted estimated of water consumption (60 l y 1) and (EDC) is the Effec- All the soil gas measurements have been carried out at 100 cm tive Dose Coefﬁcient for ingestion 3.5 nSv Bq 1. depth. The radon concentration in soil samples as given in From Table 1 it is clearly seen that the annual mean Table 1 ranges from 941 to 10,050 Bq kg 1 with the mean value effective dose due to ingestion varies from 0.11 to of 4560.65 Bq kg 1.InTable 3 a comparison of radon concen- 4.62 mSv y 1with the mean value of 0.93 mSv y 1. tration in soil samples from different locations is present. The annual mean effective doses of drinking water sam- From which it is clearly seen that the radon concentration in ples due to inhalation was calculated by using the parameters soil samples of Sri Ganganagar district, Rajasthan, India is in established in UNSCEAR (2000): the close agreement with the present work. However for Islamabad (Pakistan), Budhakedar (Tehri Garhwal, India), À Á 1 Upper Siwaliks (India), Tusham ring complex (Haryana, India), $ m ¼ $ ð Þ Ew Ih Svy CRnw Ra w F O DCF (2) Malwa belt (Punjab, India) and Kangra (H.P, India) the radon

$ concentration is higher where as Murree (Pakistan), Southern where Ew Ih is the effective dose for inhalation, CRn w is the 3 Punjab (Pakistan), Hamirpur (H.P, India) and Garhwal Hima- radon concentration in water (kBq m ), Ra.w is the ratio of radon in air to radon in tap water (10 4), F is the equilibrium laya (India) the concentration of radon is lower than the re- factor between radon and its decay products (0.4), O is the ported values in the present investigation. average indoor occupancy time per person (7000 h y 1) and DCF is the Dose Conversion Factor for radon exposure 1 3 1 9 nSv h (Bq m ) . 5. Conclusion The annual mean effective dose of drinking water samples m 1 due to inhalation varies from 1.26 to 55.44 Sv y with the 1. The measured radon concentration in all drinking water m 1 mean value of 11.15 Sv y as shown in Table 1. samples from our investigated regions of Rajasthan are The total effective dose due to ingestion and inhalation of well within the safe limit recommended by UNSCEAR all the investigated water samples varies from 1.37 to (2008). m 1 m 1 60.06 SV y with an average value of 12.08 SV y . The total 2. The total annual effective dose determined in drinking annual effective dose of all the studied water samples is found water samples of our studied area is less than the recom- 1 to be well within the safe limit 0.1 mSv y recommended by mended safe limit given by WHO (2004) and EU council WHO (2004) and EU council (1998). (1998).

Table 3 e Comparison of radon concentration in soil gas under investigation with those in other countries. Sr. No. Region Radon conc. Reference in soil (kBq m 3)

1 Northern Rajasthan (Bikaner and Jhunjhunu districts), India 0.94e10.05 Present investigation 2 Islamabad, Pakistan 17.34e72.52 Ali, Khan, Akhter, Khan, & Waheed, 2010 3 Budhakedar, Tehri Garhwal, India 1.10e31.80 Prasad, Prasad, Gusain, Choubey, & Ramola, 2008 4 Upper Siwaliks, India 11.50e78.47 Singh, Singh, Singh, & Bajwa, 2010 5 Tusham ring complex, Haryana, India 42.80e71.50 Bajwa, Singh, Singh, Singh, & Sonkawade, 2010 6 Sri Ganganagar district, Rajasthan, India 0.09e10.40 Duggal, Rani, & Mehra, 2014 7 Murree, Pakistan 0.61e3.89 Ali et al., 2010 8 Southern Punjab, Pakistan 0.42e3.56 Mujahid, Hussain, & Ramzan, 2010 9 Hamirpur district, HP, India 0.03e2.28 Mehra & Bala, 2013 10 Garhwal Himalaya, India 0.01e2.33 Bourai et al., 2013 11 Malwa belt, Punjab, India 1.90e16.40 Kumar, Singh, Bajwa, & Sabharwal, 2011 12 Kangra district, HP, India 1.10e82.20 Singh, Sharma, Dhar, & Randhawa, 2006

Please cite this article in press as: Mittal, S., et al., Estimation of radon concentration in soil and groundwater samples of Northern Rajasthan, India, Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrras.2015.10.006 6 Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences xxx (2015) 1e6

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