Assessment of gross alpha and beta activity levels and element concentrations in spa waters from Siirt and Sirnak, Turkey

Gross α and β activity contents and element concentrations in well-known spa waters from the Siirt and the Sirnak cities were determined and assessed by MPC-9604 multi-detector α/β counting system and by wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The 0.05-5.64 gross α and 0.06-2.76 Bq L^-1 gross β activity levels and element concentrations found in samples were compared with recommended values given by the World Health Organization, the US Environmental Protection Agency, Turkish Standards and literature results. Principal component and cluster analysis were also used to classify the spa waters due to element concentrations and three principal components calculated were about 91 % of the total variance in the data. (author)