Title: Health effect of radon gas in water on children at Al-Najaf schools

Authors: Rukia Jabar Dosh; Ali K. Hasan; Ali Abid Abojassim

Addresses: Faculty of Science, Department of Physics, University of Kufa, Al-Najaf, Kufa, Iraq ' Faculty of Education for Girls, Department of Physics, University of Kufa, Al-Najaf, Kufa, Iraq ' Faculty of Science, Department of Physics, University of Kufa, Al-Najaf, Kufa, Iraq

Abstract: The concentrations of radon (²²²Rn) in water samples of 37 districts of Al-Najaf province, Iraq collected from primary schools were measured. Also, Annual Effective Dose (AED) in children age groups (7-12 year), that used this water as drinking water was calculated. ²²²Rn concentrations were measured using portable detector with RAD-7 (RAD-7 H₂O). The range and average of concentrations were from 0.1 Bq/L to 0.4 Bq/L and 0.12±0.08 Bq/L, respectively. Also, the range and average of annual effective dose were from 0.1 nSv/y to 0.4 nSv/y and 0.12±0.08 nSv/y, respectively. The concentrations levels for ²²²Rn most samples were lower than the internationally recommended standard of (0.5 Bq/L), while the results of AED in all samples were lower than of the internationally recommended standard of (0.002 mSv/y). So, it can be noted that, the children who used water as drinking water were safe according to radon concentrations risks.

Keywords: radon gas; drinking water; schools; RAD-7; Najaf city.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNEST.2023.132689

International Journal of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology, 2023 Vol.16 No.2, pp.143 - 156

Received: 16 Nov 2022
Accepted: 03 Apr 2023
Published online: 07 Aug 2023 *