Radioactivity of Po-210 in drinking water samples of Albania

210Po is naturally occurring alpha emitter and exists in the environmental as a result of the 210Pb decay within the 238U decay chain. Radioactivity in drinking-water is principally derived from two sources: the leaching of radionuclides from rocks and soils and the deposition of radionuclides from the atmosphere. In the paper, a study of the 210Po radioactive content of drinking water in Albania was carried out. According to Albanian legislation the total alpha/beta screening was first carried out since it is a simple radioanalytical procedure, without regard to the identity of specific radionuclides. For total alpha and total beta radioactivity concentration exceeding the screening levels of 0.1 Bq/L and 1 Bq/L respectively, the determination of 210Po activity concentrations were determined by alpha-spectrometry with low-level-activity silicon detectors. The radiochemical separation procedure on large volume of water samples (10 L) was applied. The chemical yield (efficiency) of this procedure was controlled using a standard source of 209Po. The screening of total alpha and beta showed the activity concentrations ranging from 60 ± 6 mBq/L to 210 ± 24mBq/L and from 250 ± 23 mBq/L to 9400 ± 95 mBq/L respectively. The results obtained for 210Po activity concentration range from 3.2 ± 0.25 mBq/L to 9.6 ± 0.8 mBq/L.210Po is naturally occurring alpha emitter and exists in the environmental as a result of the 210Pb decay within the 238U decay chain. Radioactivity in drinking-water is principally derived from two sources: the leaching of radionuclides from rocks and soils and the deposition of radionuclides from the atmosphere. In the paper, a study of the 210Po radioactive content of drinking water in Albania was carried out. According to Albanian legislation the total alpha/beta screening was first carried out since it is a simple radioanalytical procedure, without regard to the identity of specific radionuclides. For total alpha and total beta radioactivity concentration exceeding the screening levels of 0.1 Bq/L and 1 Bq/L respectively, the determination of 210Po activity concentrations were determined by alpha-spectrometry with low-level-activity silicon detectors. The radiochemical separation procedure on large volume of water samples (10 L) was applied. The chemical yield (efficiency) of this procedure was contr...