TY - JOUR
T1 - Radon concentration in drinking water and soil after the September 24, 2019, Mw 5.8 earthquake, Mirpur, Azad Jammu, and Kashmir
T2 - an evaluation for potential risk
AU - Muhammad, Said
AU - Ullah, Rizwan
AU - Turab, Syed Ali
AU - Khan, Muhammad Younis
AU - Khattak, Nimat Ullah
AU - Khan, Muhammad Asif
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2020/9/1
Y1 - 2020/9/1
N2 - Radon (222Rn), a radioactive gas resulted from the natural decay of other radioactive elements, pose a threat to the exposed human population. Radon gas emits along the seismically active faults and increased the 222Rn contamination in sorrounding water and soil. This study investigated the concentration of 222Rn in drinking water and soil after the September 24, 2019, Mw 5.8 earthquake, Mirpur District, Azad Jammu, and Kashmir (AJK). For this purpose, water (n = 24) samples were collected from the bore wells of orderly located houses and soil field sampling (n = 12) along with the NE-SW directions of fracture in the Mirpur District. Determined 222Rn in drinking water surpassed the maximum contamination level (MCL, 11.1 kBq/m3) set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) in 83%, 50%, and 33% of the sampling point at the site I, site II, and site III, respectively. However, that of soil 222Rn concentration was observed with the normal range (10–50 kBq/m3). Potential exposure of 222Rn consumption in drinking water was the mean effective dose through ingestion (EWing, 0.003 ± < 0.001 mSv/a), the effective dose for inhalation (EWInh, 0.038 ± 0.002 mSv/a), and the total effective dose of human (EWT, 0.041 ± 0.002 mSv/a). Exposure values along with the rupture showed multifold higher risk values (up to 4 times) compared to background sites. These values were observed within the limits (0.1 mSv/a) set by World Health Organization (WHO); however, surpassed the thresholds of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the effects of atomic radiations (UNSCEAR) for all exposure pathways. This study concluded that groundwater in the close vicinity should be avoided or boiled before used for drinking purposes.
AB - Radon (222Rn), a radioactive gas resulted from the natural decay of other radioactive elements, pose a threat to the exposed human population. Radon gas emits along the seismically active faults and increased the 222Rn contamination in sorrounding water and soil. This study investigated the concentration of 222Rn in drinking water and soil after the September 24, 2019, Mw 5.8 earthquake, Mirpur District, Azad Jammu, and Kashmir (AJK). For this purpose, water (n = 24) samples were collected from the bore wells of orderly located houses and soil field sampling (n = 12) along with the NE-SW directions of fracture in the Mirpur District. Determined 222Rn in drinking water surpassed the maximum contamination level (MCL, 11.1 kBq/m3) set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) in 83%, 50%, and 33% of the sampling point at the site I, site II, and site III, respectively. However, that of soil 222Rn concentration was observed with the normal range (10–50 kBq/m3). Potential exposure of 222Rn consumption in drinking water was the mean effective dose through ingestion (EWing, 0.003 ± < 0.001 mSv/a), the effective dose for inhalation (EWInh, 0.038 ± 0.002 mSv/a), and the total effective dose of human (EWT, 0.041 ± 0.002 mSv/a). Exposure values along with the rupture showed multifold higher risk values (up to 4 times) compared to background sites. These values were observed within the limits (0.1 mSv/a) set by World Health Organization (WHO); however, surpassed the thresholds of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the effects of atomic radiations (UNSCEAR) for all exposure pathways. This study concluded that groundwater in the close vicinity should be avoided or boiled before used for drinking purposes.
KW - Drinking water
KW - Earthquake
KW - Exposure values
KW - Radon
KW - Risk
KW - Soil
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U2 - 10.1007/s11356-020-09589-0
DO - 10.1007/s11356-020-09589-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 32514913
AN - SCOPUS:85086158844
SN - 0944-1344
VL - 27
SP - 32628
EP - 32636
JO - Environmental Science and Pollution Research
JF - Environmental Science and Pollution Research
IS - 26
ER -