Measurement of radiological baseline data of the hazard radiation in bottled drinking water samples in Basrah/Iraq

Abstract

An investigation was carried out on several radiological hazard indices in twenty three bottled drinking water samples that were collected from various locations in Basrah/Iraq. The specific activity of 238U, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs isotopes was measured using the surveillance and measurement (SAM) device, model 940-2G. The specific activity values of U-238, Th-232, K-40 and Cs-137 ranged as (0.029±0.001-3.017±0.003) Bq/l, (0.025±0.002-2.326±0.001) Bq/l, (4.706±0.002-161.560±0.001) Bq/l and (0.040±0.003-0.953±0.001) Bq/l, respectively. The calculation of many risk indices have been carried out for all drinking water samples. All results have agreed with those reported in published studies and all these obtained findings have been recognized to be below the worldwide limit values. Therefore, there is no significant radiological risk in drinking bottled water brands in Basrah governorate, Iraq.