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Detectors for Assessment of Natural Radioactivity in Drinking Water: Materials...
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Detectors for Assessment of Natural Radioactivity in Drinking Water: Materials and Method

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 November 2021) | Viewed by 6580

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Francesco Caridi

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Guest Editor
Department of Mathematics and Informatics, University of Messina, Physics and Earth Sciences (MIFT), Viale F. Stagno d'Alcontres, 31-98166 Messina, Italy
Interests: lasers; laser–matter interaction; plasma production; diagnostics and applications; environmental radioactivity; gamma-spectrometry; liquid scintillation; emanometry; applied physics to cultural heritage, environment, biology, and medicine
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Michele Guida

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory "Ambients and Radiations (AmbRa)", Department of Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Applied Mathematics (DIEM), University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Interests: radon monitoring and human exposure; environmental radioactivity; radon risk; radon health assessment; human biomonitoring; biomonitors for radioactivity exposure; biological dosimetry; thoron risk assessment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The presence of radionuclides in water constitutes a health risk to the population because the consumption of such water increases the likelihood of cancer. Experimental analysis will enhance the detection of significant radionuclides that cause harm to the population and stimulate remediation.

Among the various analytical techniques for assessment of natural radioactivity in drinking water, alpha and gamma spectrometry are employed to obtain the specific activity of alpha and gamma radionuclides, respectively; liquid scintillation counting (LSC) can be used to quantify the activity concentration of tritium, radon, and gross alpha and beta; total alpha/beta counting, with the thick source method, can be used for the gross alpha and beta specific activity evaluation; and emanometry, in the H2O setup configuration, can be employed to estimate the gas radon activity concentration.

Prof. Dr. Francesco Caridi
Prof. Dr. Michele Guida
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Natural radioactivity
  • Drinking water
  • Alpha Spectrometry
  • Gamma Spectrometry
  • Liquid scintillation counting (LSC)
  • Total alpha/beta counting
  • Emanometry

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 11127 KiB  
Article
Cherenkov Radiation Detection on a LS Counter for 226Ra Determination in Water and Its Comparison with Other Common Methods
by Ivana Stojković, Nataša Todorović, Jovana Nikolov, Branka Radulović and Michele Guida
Materials 2021, 14(21), 6719; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14216719 - 08 Nov 2021
Viewed by 1501
Abstract
Reliable determination of 226Ra content in drinking water, surface water and groundwater is required for radiological health-risk assessment of populations and radiation-dose calculations after ingestion and inhalation. This study aimed to determine 226Ra presence in the untreated water samples on a [...] Read more.
Reliable determination of 226Ra content in drinking water, surface water and groundwater is required for radiological health-risk assessment of populations and radiation-dose calculations after ingestion and inhalation. This study aimed to determine 226Ra presence in the untreated water samples on a liquid scintillation counter via Cherenkov radiation detection. Cherenkov counting is a faster, simpler, less expensive technique than other commonly used methods for 226Ra determination. Step-by-step optimization of this technique on the Quantulus detector is presented in this paper. Improvement of detection limit/efficiency in the presence of sodium salicylate was investigated in this study. The main parameters of the method obtained were detection efficiency 15.87 (24)% and detection limit 0.415 Bq/L achieved for 1000 min of counting in 20 mL of sample volume. When 1 g of sodium salicylate was added, efficiency increased to 38.1 (5)%, with a reduction in the detection limit to 0.248 Bq/L for 500 min of counting. A satisfactory precision level of Cherenkov counting was obtained, the results deviating between 5% and 20% from reference values. The precision and accuracy of the Cherenkov counting technique were compared to liquid scintillation counting (EPA Method 913.0 for radon determination) and gamma spectrometry (the direct method for the untreated water samples on HPGe spectrometer). An overview of the advantages/disadvantages of each technique is elaborated in this paper. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Detectors for Assessment of Natural Radioactivity in Drinking Water: Materials and Method)
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21 pages, 3153 KiB  
Article
Applications of PERALS-Alpha Spectrometry for the Investigation of Radionuclides in Water Samples
by Markus Zehringer, Franziska Kammerer and Anja Pregler
Materials 2021, 14(14), 3787; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14143787 - 06 Jul 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2396
Abstract
In this paper, experiences of the last 20 years with the PERALS-technique are described. PERALS stands for photo electron-rejecting alpha liquid scintillation. This liquid scintillation technique was developed by Jack McDowell in the 1970s and is a powerful technique for the analyses of [...] Read more.
In this paper, experiences of the last 20 years with the PERALS-technique are described. PERALS stands for photo electron-rejecting alpha liquid scintillation. This liquid scintillation technique was developed by Jack McDowell in the 1970s and is a powerful technique for the analyses of many natural alpha nuclides and also the beta nuclide 90Sr. The principle is based on a selective extraction of the radionuclide from the water phase by means of a complexing or ion pair reagent. The extractant contains also a cocktail suitable for scintillation counting. Therefore, the extract can be analyzed directly after the extraction step. After removing quenchers, such as oxygen, and the proper setting of a pulse shape discriminator, alpha pulses can be counted with a photomultiplier. This paper describes the development of robust analysis schemes for the determination of traces of polonium, thorium, uranium and other actinides in water samples (groundwater, rain water, river water, drinking water, mineral water, sea water). For radon and radium, the enrichment in the extract is poor. Therefore, PERALS methods are not suitable for trace analyses of these analytes. In addition, the extraction of the beta-emitter 90Sr with a PERALS cocktail is discussed, even though its beta spectrum is not analyzed with a PERALS counter. Results from the survey of drinking water and mineral water in Switzerland are presented for every radio element. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Detectors for Assessment of Natural Radioactivity in Drinking Water: Materials and Method)
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12 pages, 4392 KiB  
Article
Alpha Spectrometry of Radon Short-Lived Progeny in Drinking Water and Assessment of the Public Effective Dose: Results from the Cilento Area, Province of Salerno, Southern Italy
by Enver Faella, Simona Mancini, Michele Guida, Albina Cuomo and Domenico Guida
Materials 2020, 13(24), 5840; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma13245840 - 21 Dec 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1812
Abstract
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas present in the hydrosphere, lithosphere and atmosphere abundantly. Its ionizing radiation provides the largest human internal exposure by inhalation and ingestion to natural sources, constituting a serious health hazard. The contribution to total exposure is mainly [...] Read more.
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas present in the hydrosphere, lithosphere and atmosphere abundantly. Its ionizing radiation provides the largest human internal exposure by inhalation and ingestion to natural sources, constituting a serious health hazard. The contribution to total exposure is mainly due to inhalation, as ingestion by food or drinking water is typically very small. However, because of public health concerns, the contributions from all these sources are limited by regulations and remedial action should be taken in the event that the defined threshold values are overcome. In this paper, the first campaign of measurements to control the radon activity concentration in drinking water from public water supplies in the province of Salerno, south Italy, is described. The results represent a main reference for the area, as it was never investigated before. The purpose of this survey was to contribute to data compilation concerning the presence of radon-222 in groundwater in the Campania region and to determine the associated risk for different age groups. The maximum radon activity concentrations and the related total annual public effective dose turned out to be lower than the threshold values (100 Bq/l and 0.1 mSv/y, respectively) indicated by international guidelines and the national regulation, showing that the health risks for public consumption can be considered negligible. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Detectors for Assessment of Natural Radioactivity in Drinking Water: Materials and Method)
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