STUDY OF RADON CONCENTRATION IN DRINKING WATER OF EASTERN HARYANA

This study aimed to assess radon concentration measurement in drinking water of Eastern Haryana, India using RAD7, electronic silicon solid state detector. Radon is the decay product of radium which lies in the uranium decay series. Radon is second cause of lungs cancer after smoking. Groundwater is used as a drinking water source in study region, it is important to study the radon concentration in drinking water of this region. In this region, radon concentration in water samples has been found to vary between 22.3 Bql -1 to 495.1 Bql -1 with an average of 33.9 Bql -1 . The measured radon content in all water samples has been found to be higher than the maximum contaminated limit of 11 Bql-1 (UNSCEAR 2000). The measured radon content in 42.85% water samples has been found to be higher than the reference range of 4-40 Bql-1 (UNSCEAR 1993). Radon concentration in all the water samples lies within the safe limit of 100Bq/l recommended by European Commission (EC 2001). Ingestion dose in the study area varies from 28.5 to 57.6 μSv/y with an average value of 43.3 μSv/y, which is below the recommended limits. Drinking water of the study area is safe as a radiation hazard point of view. The high radon concentration observed in certain areas is due to interaction of ground water with the soil formation of this region and the local subsurface geology of the region.