Assessment of radon levels in some water resources in Egypt

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that is produced by the radioactive decay of radium. Breathing high concentrations of radon can cause lung cancer. When radon gas migrates through the atmosphere, the solid radon progeny are deposited on the soil and water below, entering into the food chain. Radon generated from rocks containing its parents may escape to the underground or surface running water, which ultimately used as drinking water or for irrigation. In this work radon level was determined in different water resources in Egypt. Water from spring, tap water Nile and some commercially available drinking water were subjected to radon measurements using CR-39 detectors. Radon concentration in different water resources was found the range from 8.94 to 10.00 Bq/m3 while in trapped air above water was 9.3 to 10.38 Bq/m3