Methods for radioactivity measurements in drinking water using gamma spectrometry

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Nuclear Science

Background:

• Radionuclide contamination in drinking water poses potential health risks.
• Accurate measurement of activity concentrations is crucial for public health monitoring.
• Existing sampling and measurement methods may have limitations in accuracy, efficiency, and cost.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and optimize high-resolution gamma spectrometry methods for radionuclide activity concentration measurement in drinking water.
• To introduce and validate improved pre-concentration techniques (partial evaporation, ion-exchange resins) and a novel sampling method for 222Rn.
• To present the first comprehensive results on radionuclide activity concentrations in drinking water across a large region of northeast Italy.

Main Methods:

• Development and optimization of three high-resolution gamma spectrometry methods.
• Optimization of partial evaporation and ion-exchange resin pre-concentration techniques for accuracy, precision, detection limits, cost, and time.
• Design and optimization of a new direct tap water sampling method for 222Rn to minimize sample loss.

Main Results:

• Successful optimization of radionuclide measurement and pre-concentration techniques.
• Implementation of a novel, efficient sampling method for 222Rn.
• Analysis of 85 drinking water samples collected between 2017-2019 from the Veneto region, Italy.
• Establishment of initial baseline data for radionuclide activity concentrations in the study area.

Conclusions:

• The developed methods are effective for accurate radionuclide activity concentration measurements in drinking water.
• The new 222Rn sampling method significantly reduces losses during collection.
• This study provides the first extensive data on radionuclide levels in drinking water from the Veneto foothill region and initiates the assessment of spatial and seasonal radon variations.