Elevated radium levels in Nubian Aquifer groundwater of Northeastern Africa

Abstract The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System in Northeast Africa and the Middle East is a huge water resource of inestimable value to the population. However, natural radioactivity impairs groundwater quality throughout the aquifer posing a radiological health risk to millions of people. Here we pre...

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Autores principales:	Mahmoud I. Sherif, Neil C. Sturchio
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/a14fda46a3844947b8a6281e2e7355e6
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:a14fda46a3844947b8a6281e2e7355e62021-12-02T11:45:54ZElevated radium levels in Nubian Aquifer groundwater of Northeastern Africa10.1038/s41598-020-80160-02045-2322https://doaj.org/article/a14fda46a3844947b8a6281e2e7355e62021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-80160-0https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System in Northeast Africa and the Middle East is a huge water resource of inestimable value to the population. However, natural radioactivity impairs groundwater quality throughout the aquifer posing a radiological health risk to millions of people. Here we present measurements of radium isotopes in Nubian Aquifer groundwater from population centers in the Western Desert of Egypt. Groundwater has 226Ra and 228Ra activities ranging from 0.01 to 2.11 and 0.03 to 2.31 Bq/L, respectively. Most activities (combined 226Ra + 228Ra) exceed U.S. EPA drinking water standards. The estimated annual radiation doses associated with ingestion of water having the highest measured Ra activities are up to 138 and 14 times the WHO-recommended maxima for infants and adults, respectively. Dissolved Ra activities are positively correlated with barium and negatively correlated with sulfate, while barite is approximately saturated. In contrast, Ra is uncorrelated with salinity. These observations indicate the dominant geochemical mechanisms controlling dissolved Ra activity may be barite precipitation and sulfate reduction, along with input from alpha-recoil and dissolution of aquifer minerals and loss by radioactive decay. Radium mitigation measures should be adopted for water quality management where Nubian Aquifer groundwater is produced for agricultural and domestic consumption.Mahmoud I. SherifNeil C. SturchioNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Mahmoud I. Sherif Neil C. Sturchio Elevated radium levels in Nubian Aquifer groundwater of Northeastern Africa
description	Abstract The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System in Northeast Africa and the Middle East is a huge water resource of inestimable value to the population. However, natural radioactivity impairs groundwater quality throughout the aquifer posing a radiological health risk to millions of people. Here we present measurements of radium isotopes in Nubian Aquifer groundwater from population centers in the Western Desert of Egypt. Groundwater has 226Ra and 228Ra activities ranging from 0.01 to 2.11 and 0.03 to 2.31 Bq/L, respectively. Most activities (combined 226Ra + 228Ra) exceed U.S. EPA drinking water standards. The estimated annual radiation doses associated with ingestion of water having the highest measured Ra activities are up to 138 and 14 times the WHO-recommended maxima for infants and adults, respectively. Dissolved Ra activities are positively correlated with barium and negatively correlated with sulfate, while barite is approximately saturated. In contrast, Ra is uncorrelated with salinity. These observations indicate the dominant geochemical mechanisms controlling dissolved Ra activity may be barite precipitation and sulfate reduction, along with input from alpha-recoil and dissolution of aquifer minerals and loss by radioactive decay. Radium mitigation measures should be adopted for water quality management where Nubian Aquifer groundwater is produced for agricultural and domestic consumption.
format	article
author	Mahmoud I. Sherif Neil C. Sturchio
author_facet	Mahmoud I. Sherif Neil C. Sturchio
author_sort	Mahmoud I. Sherif
title	Elevated radium levels in Nubian Aquifer groundwater of Northeastern Africa
title_short	Elevated radium levels in Nubian Aquifer groundwater of Northeastern Africa
title_full	Elevated radium levels in Nubian Aquifer groundwater of Northeastern Africa
title_fullStr	Elevated radium levels in Nubian Aquifer groundwater of Northeastern Africa
title_full_unstemmed	Elevated radium levels in Nubian Aquifer groundwater of Northeastern Africa
title_sort	elevated radium levels in nubian aquifer groundwater of northeastern africa
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/a14fda46a3844947b8a6281e2e7355e6
work_keys_str_mv	AT mahmoudisherif elevatedradiumlevelsinnubianaquifergroundwaterofnortheasternafrica AT neilcsturchio elevatedradiumlevelsinnubianaquifergroundwaterofnortheasternafrica
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Elevated radium levels in Nubian Aquifer groundwater of Northeastern Africa

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