Natural Radioactivity in Thermal Waters: A Case Study from Poland

Abstract

A natural radioactivity in thermal water was investigated based on 19 selected thermal waters from Poland. The analysed results show that the radionuclides’ concentrations in the study waters vary over a wide range. The temperature of the waters varies from above 20 °C to above 80 °C. The waters are characterised by different mineralisation, chemical compositions, and belong to different hydrochemical types. There is a good correlation between the water temperature and the depths of the aquifer formations occurrence, suggesting the thermal energy originates from the thermal geogradient. The concentration of radium is well correlated with the water mineralisation. The ratio of radium activity (226Ra/228Ra) in groundwater relates not only the ratio of uranium activity to that of thorium (238U/232Th) in aquifer formation, but also depends on the physical and chemical water properties. Based on the concentration of radon and its transport model, the radiation exposures due to inhalation of 222Rn and its progeny for employees and clients of the spa were assessed. The use of the thermal waters as a drinking resource may be problematic due to the possibility of exceeding the recommended annual committed effective dose 0.1 mSv.

Radiological investigation of natural carbonated spring waters from Eastern Carpathians, Romania

“…Another positive correlation can be established between specific activities and TDS (R = 0.63 for α and R = 0.59 for β and 226 Ra, α = 0.01). In literature, [32] also noticed positive correlations between TDS and uranium, as well as [27], who found similar relationships for 226 Ra and 228 Ra. TDS, salinity and conductivity have similar R values when correlated to gross alpha, beta and radium activities, which is the result of the strong correlations between these parameters alone.…”

210Po characteristic in selected thermal water sources in Northern Vietnam

“…Radioisotopes occurring in groundwater are primarily due to the solubility of minerals in aquifer rocks and leaching [44]. Groundwater is in contact with aquifer rock, so the activity concentration of natural radionuclides is closely related to the geological and environmental features of the aquifer [9,[44][45][46].…”

“…Radioisotopes occurring in groundwater are primarily due to the solubility of minerals in aquifer rocks and leaching [44]. Groundwater is in contact with aquifer rock, so the activity concentration of natural radionuclides is closely related to the geological and environmental features of the aquifer [9,[44][45][46]. Areas with high background radiation concentrations such as granite, phosphate, shale formations can have elevated levels of radioactivity in ground or thermal waters [47][48][49][50].…”

Improvements of 210Po determination method in thermal water samples

“…Thermal water sources have wellknown uses for spas, balneotherapy, medical treatment, health-improving effects on the human organism, the development of tourism, and fulfilling the mineral water demand in Vietnam and around the world. In thermal water, the presence of 210 Po is believed to originate from the decay of parent isotopes inside the aquifer through solid-liquid interactions (Nguyen Dinh et al, 2021;Harada et al, 1989;Seiler et al, 2011;Carvalho et al, 2017). 210 Po was determined to be firmly bound to the aquifer surface (Balistrieri et al, 1995;Seiler et al, 2011).…”

“…During the reaching of underground thermal water flow to the near ground surface, the potential for anions and cations led to high total mineralization (Nguyen Dinh et al, 2021). For the methods of 210 Po determination, a chemical separation process using a Dowex 100-200 mesh anion column was used.…”