Preliminary results of natural radioactivity evaluation in underground waters of the city of Campos do Jordao, SP, Brazil

Abstract

Twenty-eight 5-liter samples were collected during the year of 2018 on four different campaings (January, April, August and December) for seven selected sources (SP-123, Britania, Amizade, Dom Bosco, Volta Fria, Simao and Renato) of easy and free access to the population on the city of Campos do Jordão, SP, Brazil. Samples were concentrated from 1L to 50 mL of which 4 mL pipetted on 60 mm diameter stainless steel planchet were analyzed with a Berthold’s PC-controlled 10-channel Low-level Alpha-Beta Counter LB 770 Win in three 120-minute counting cycles. Preliminary results have shown low alpha and beta activity concentrations for all sources with values ranging between 0.0288 Bq/L ± 0.0036 Bq/L and 0.1059 Bq/L ± 0.0118 Bq/L for alpha activity and between 0.0371 Bq/L ± 0.005 Bq/L and 0.1352 Bq/L ± 0.0148 Bq/L for beta activities. Results showed a tendency of higher concentrations during periods of drier weather. All obtained values are below the limits of 0.5 Bq/L and 1 Bq/L, respectively for alpha and beta activity concentrations, recommended by the 2017 WHO Guideline on Drinking Water Management.