A New Methodological Approach for the Assessment of the 238U Content in Drinking Water

The radiological quality of drinking water is directly associated with the health of the population. Indeed, it is well known that the presence of radionuclides in drinking water constitutes a health risk for humans because the consumption of such water increases the likelihood of incurring cancer. For this reason, all the studies aimed at developing new methodologies for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the radioisotopic composition of drinking water are absolutely desired by the international scientific community, as well as by the institutes that deal with the protection of public health. In this paper, a new methodological approach was developed for the evaluation of the U-238 content in drinking water. A sample coming from Paola, Calabria region, southern Italy, was taken as a case study. The assessment was performed by using High Purity Germanium (HPGe) gamma-ray spectrometry, with the aim of quantifying the specific activity of the Pa-234m radioisotope after a preconcentration procedure, and thus to assess the activity concentration of U-238, in the hypothesis of the secular radioactive equilibrium between it and its daughter. The obtained results were validated through the comparison with the U-238 (mu g/L) concentration as measured with Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS).