210Pb concentration in air and water samples in the environment of coastal Karnataka and Kaiga

Systematic studies on concentration and distribution of 210Pb in air and water samples of river, rain, open well, bore well and sea were carried out in the environment of coastal Karnataka and Kaiga. The concentration of 210Pb was measured by coprecipitation of this radionuclides on Fe(OH)3 by batch technique followed by chemical deposition onto a silver disc. The activity of 210Pb in atmosphere was found to vary in the range 0.42-1.47 mBq m-3. The dry deposition rates was found to vary from 10.1-39.6 Bq m-2y-1. The concentration of 210Pb in rain water was found to vary from 1.11 to 101.9 mBql-1, in bore well water it varies from 3.78 to 67.54 mBql-1, in open well water from 3.54 to 32.10 mBql-1 in river water from 9.46 to 154.7 mBql-1 and in sea water it is found to vary from 21.7 to 28.8 mBql-1. The results of these studies are discussed in the light of literature values reported for other environments. (author)