Natural radioactivity in various water samples and radiation dose estimations in Bolu province, Turkey

The level of natural radioactivity for Bolu province of north-western Turkey was assessed in this study. There is no information about radioactivity measurement reported in water samples in the Bolu province so far. For this reason, gross α and β activities of 55 different water samples collected from tap, spring, mineral, river and lake waters in Bolu were determined. The mean activity concentrations were 68.11 mBq L−1, 169.44 mBq L−1 for gross α and β in tap water. For all samples the gross β activity is always higher than the gross α activity. All value of the gross α were lower than the limit value of 500 mBq L−1 while two spring and one mineral water samples were found to have gross β activity concentrations of greater than 1000 mBq L−1. The associated age-dependent dose from all water ingestion in Bolu was estimated. The total dose for adults had an average value exceeds the WHO recommended limit value. The risk levels from the direct ingestion of the natural radionuclides in tap and mineral water in Bolu were determinated. The mean 210Po and 228Ra risk the value of tap and mineral waters slightly exceeds what some consider on acceptable risk of 10−4 or less.