Alpha Spectrometry of Radon Short-Lived Progeny in Drinking Water and Assessment of the Public Effective Dose: Results from the Cilento Area, Province of Salerno, Southern Italy

Abstract

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas present in the hydrosphere, lithosphere and atmosphere abundantly. Its ionizing radiation provides the largest human internal exposure by inhalation and ingestion to natural sources, constituting a serious health hazard. The contribution to total exposure is mainly due to inhalation, as ingestion by food or drinking water is typically very small. However, because of public health concerns, the contributions from all these sources are limited by regulations and remedial action should be taken in the event that the defined threshold values are overcome. In this paper, the first campaign of measurements to control the radon activity concentration in drinking water from public water supplies in the province of Salerno, south Italy, is described. The results represent a main reference for the area, as it was never investigated before. The purpose of this survey was to contribute to data compilation concerning the presence of radon-222 in groundwater in the Campania region and to determine the associated risk for different age groups. The maximum radon activity concentrations and the related total annual public effective dose turned out to be lower than the threshold values (100 Bq/l and 0.1 mSv/y, respectively) indicated by international guidelines and the national regulation, showing that the health risks for public consumption can be considered negligible.

Radon concentration in groundwater of north-eastern Sicily (Italy)

“…Regarding other regions of Italy, data collected from groundwaters hosted in carbonate and volcanic aquifers in the Campanian region (southern Italy) by La Verde et al [53] and Faella et al [30] (1.3-57 Bq L −1 ) are fully comparable to those derived from this study (1.6-57.5 Bq L −1 ). Conversely, radon concentrations measured in the Sabatino and Cimino volcanic districts of Latium (Roman Magmatic Province, central Italy) [54] showed far higher values (up to 797 Bq L −1 with an average of 60.5 Bq L −1 ) in comparison to those recorded in southern Italy.…”

“…Generally, two sampling approaches can be used to collect water samples: preventive and typical [28][29][30]. The preventive way is performed by inclining the vial and reducing the water flux to the minimum value.…”

“…Therefore, we can Table 3. Comparison between the dissolved radon ( 222 Rn) concentration determined in north-eastern Sicily and that measured in other areas (data from Pizzino et al [47]; Caridi and Belmusto [36]; D'Alessandro and Vita [43]; Kozlowska et al [48]; Kozlowska et al [49]; Dongarrà et al [52]; La Verde et al [53]; Faella et al [30]; Cinti et al [54]; Pereira et al [14]; Trautmannsheme et al [13]; Ravikumar and Somashekar [32]; Correa et al [55]; Darko et al [56]). [54] 0.1 797 60.5 sedimentary and volcanic Nisa (Portugal) [14] 17 3856 934 crystalline Ciudad Rodrigo (Spain) [14] 1.4 1609 381 crystalline Bavaria (Germany) [13] -1220 -crystalline Sankey tank (India) [32] 7.2 11.43 -crystalline Malathahalli (India) [32] 11.7 381.2 -crystalline Curitiba (Brazil) [55] 1.6 215 -crystalline Greater Accra (Ghana) [56] 2.15 28.7 8.1 crystalline affirm that groundwaters reservoirs within the medium-to the high-grade crystalline basement of the Calabria-Peloritani Orogen show a rather uniform radon signature.…”

Rural communities experience higher radon exposure versus urban areas, potentially due to drilled groundwater well annuli acting as unintended radon gas migration conduits

“…Given the diversity of the underlying geologies, climates, and building portfolios (housing ages, designs, etc.) across Canada, the consistency of the higher rural radon effect was striking, reflects trends observed internationally 37,[52][53][54][55][56][57] , and suggests a common cause.…”

Radionuclides in Italian Drinking Water and Regulations: Data Collection to Improve Risk Assessment

“…Moreover, they're always lower than the legislative limit. Still in South Italy, some measurements of Rn-222 are reported to be on average equal to 4.6 Bq/L (1.0-12.7 Bq/L) for Sicily [50] and 17 Bq/L (3.0-45.0 Bq/L) for Campania [51]. In the Umbria region of central Italy, Rn-222 measurements ranged between 5.9 and 65.8 Bq/L [52], still higher than the ones in this study.…”