Natural radioactivity in Algerian bottled mineral waters

The activity concentrations of some radionuclides in Algerian bottled mineral waters were determined using CR-39 nuclear track detectors for 222Rn, and a high resolution gamma-ray spectrometry for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K. The mean specific activities of 222Rn, 226Ra, 231Th and 40K in the drinking mineral waters were 7 ± 4 Bq x 1-1, 26 ± 11 mBq x 1-1, 30 ± 13 mBq x 1-1 and 1 ± 0.5 Bq x 1-1, respectively. These values are comparable with concentrations reported for other countries. The effective doses due to intake of these radionuclides as a consequence of direct consumption of drinking mineral waters have been determined. The estimated effective doses were 56.8 μSv x y-1 for 222Rn, 3.94 μSv x y-1 for 226Ra, 4.45 μSv x y-1 for 232Th and 3.33 μSv x y-1 for 40K. Contribution of these radionuclides to the effective dose due to ingestion and inhalation of all terrestrial radionuclides is estimated to be only 0.012%. (author)