Risk assessment of radon in some bottled water on the Ghanaian market

Abstract

Abstract The demand for bottled drinking water on the Ghanaian market has increased despite being expensive. This can be attributed to the public perception that is of higher quality relative to other water sources. Radon (222Rn) is a noble gas formed from radium (226Ra) which is the decay product of Uranium (238U). Radon concentration and annual effective doses were measured in fifteen popular bottled water samples on the Ghanaian market at the Greater Accra, Region. Measurements were made using RAD -H20. The range and mean radon concentration of 222Rn in all sampled water were 0.03–0.09 Bql−1 and 0.06 ± 0.01 Bql−1 respectively. The annual effective dose due to ingestion in the various age groups had a range and mean of 6.79E-01-1.90E-01 μSvy−1 and 4.66E-01 ± 3.77E-02 μSvy−1 for adults, 3.80E-01-1.36 E-01 μSvy−1 and 9.33E-01 ± 7.55E-02 μSvy−1 for children and 1.33–4.75 μSvy−1 and 3.26 μSvy−1 ± 2.64E-01 for infants. The measured values of radon concentration as well as the annual effective dose were found within the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA), European Union (EU) and World Health Organization (WHO) recommended limits. It can be concluded that the radiation dose from radon in the bottled water analysed is low and pose no risk to the public.