STUDIES ON RADON CONCENTRATION IN UNDERGROUND WATER OF IDAH, NIGERIA

Studies on ground water samples from selected boreholes and wells in Idah were carried out to determine the concentration of radon (222Rn) using the Liquid Scintillation Counter (LSC). The average concentration of radon obtained was 14.09±1.10 BqL-1 for boreholes and 13.45±1.00 BqL-1 for well waters. The overall average concentration of 13.77±1.05 BqL-1 was recorded. The results obtained in this work were compared with the maximum contamination level (MCL) of 11.1 BqL-1 set by USEPA and the world average value of 10.0 BqL-1 for drinking water and it was observed that 80% of the samples exceeded these values. The average annual effective dose by ingestion of 0.051mSvy-1 was recorded for boreholes and 0.049mSvy-1 for well water samples. All values of effective dose were below the ICRP recommended intervention level of 3-10mSvy-1.