Natural radioactivity content in Italian bottled mineral waters

Abstract

Bottled water consumption has a long history but nowdays bottled water industry is a fast-growing sector of the world industry. Most of the water in bottles comes from springs or underground aquifers. The mineral content of the aquifer is diluted in small amounts into the water and although consuming mineral water is thought to be a healthy practice, there are several cases where radioactivity is also present. Monitoring the bottled water natural radioactivity is very important especially for the cases people consume mainly this kind of water. Radioactivity accumulation in the human body if exists in excess, can pose a threat for the health. In the present work, thirty brands of Italian bottled water were measured for gross alpha and beta radioactivity, uranium, radium and polonium radioisotopes. Radioactivity content was determined using the LSC method and sorbtion on polyamide pieces covered with thin film of MnO2. The analysis using the MnO2 thin films showed that the radium activity in waters varied from 4.7-69.3 mBqL-1 and the polonium activity varied from 5.9-26.8 mBqL-1. The measurements with the LSC method showed uranium concentrations varying from 0.7- 93.1 mBqL-1, while the radium activities exhibited variations from 1.6-34.1 mBqL-1. Finally the gross beta activity values varied from 13.1-1584.9 mBqL-1 and the gross alpha from 2.4- 305.2 mBqL-1.