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Removing Uranium and Radium from Groundwater by Ion Exchange Resins
Published in Arup K. Sengupta, Ion Exchange Technology, 2021
Dennis A. Clifford, Zhihe Zhang
Radium is a radioactive alkaline earth metal. Chemically, it is similar to calcium. Although radium has fifteen radioactive isotopes, with half-lives ranging from a few seconds to 1,600 years [19], only three naturally occurring isotopes are important in drinking water, viz., Ra-226 (t1/2 = 1,600 years) and Ra-228 (t1/2 = 5.75 years) and Ra-224 (t1/2 = 3.64 days). These naturally occurring groundwater contaminants occur at ultrace levels. Ra-226 is an alpha emitter in the U-238 decay chain and has a specific activity of 0.989 Ci/g, which is about 1.5 × 106 times the average specific activity of uranium. The immediate daughter product of Ra-226 is Rn-222, an alpha-emitting inert gas easily transferred from water to air, where it has a potential to cause lung cancer.* Ra-228 is a beta emitter in the Th-232 decay chain with a specific activity of 272.7 Ci/g, much higher than Ra-226 because of its shorter half-life. The second generation daughter of Ra-228 is Ra-224, an alpha emitter that is expected to be present in groundwaters that contain its progenitor, Ra-228. Aging a radium-contaminated groundwater for 21 days has no effect on the presence of Ra-226 and Ra-228, but it will virtually eliminate the presence of the short-lived alpha-emitter Ra-224 and result in a lowering of the radium and gross alpha contamination in the water.
Applied Chemistry and Physics
Published in Robert A. Burke, Applied Chemistry and Physics, 2020
Radium, Ra, is a radioactive metallic element. There are 14 radioactive isotopes of radium; however, only radium 226, with a half-life of 1,620 years, is usable. It is a brilliant, white solid that is luminescent and turns black upon exposure to air. Radium is water soluble, and contact with water evolves hydrogen gas. It is in the alkaline-earth metal family and, like calcium, it seeks the bones when it enters the body. It is highly toxic and emits ionizing radiation. Radium is destructive to living tissue.
Radioactivity in Drinking Water
Published in Joseph Cotruvo, Drinking Water Quality and Contaminants Guidebook, 2019
Health risks from alpha emitters occur from the ingestion of the radionuclide and deposition in a sensitive tissue so that when the alpha particle release occurs it is very close to the target cell. Radium is chemically similar to calcium so it will deposit in bone, and bone cancer is a major risk.
Environmental and Human Risk Assessment of Radioactive Pollution in Sediments of Northern Nile Delta, Egypt
Published in Soil and Sediment Contamination: An International Journal, 2022
Muhammad A. El-Alfy, Hassan S. Eissa, Hazem T. Abd El-Hamid
For determination of health impacts of exposure, there are some factors are being considered; radiation energy, absorbed dose by individuals and specific activity of radiation source (Jibiri 2020). The radioactivity has many effects on human health as 226Ra which tends to be collected in the bones if ingested into the body, which later may result in either leukemia or bone cancer (Irvin and Cruz-Batres 1996). Silts and sands formed from basic and intermediate volcanic rocks make up the majority of the sediments that settle in the lake, with only modest contributions coming from below and around it (Mohammed, Shawky, and Amer 1995). Long alpha emitters are among the radionuclides that are transferred into water as pollutants, such as radium and uranium. When consumed, these the alpha emitters were represented as dangerous radionuclides (Winde 2013). Due to the ability to resemble chemically with calcium, radium is frequently fixed in bones, but uranium is harmful to humans as a result of its solubility in water (Bitrus et al. 2015). When consumed in high doses through drinking water, uranium and radium can have biological effects such as altering the genetic code and altering bone structure, both of which can lead to cancer (Canu et al. 2011).
Radiological risk assessment of farm-raised fish species due to natural radionuclides in the freshwater ecosystem of Bangladesh with the statistical approach
Published in Radiation Effects and Defects in Solids, 2022
Khandoker Asaduzzaman, Fahmida Jannati Priya, Doni Akter, Md. Enamul Haque, Mahfuza Begum, Md. Kamruzzaman Munshi, Md. Arman Hossen
Food is an important pathway of human internal exposure from radioactive elements which enter into the bodies through consumption (1–3). It is estimated that at least one-eighth of the total radiation exposure can be credited by taking food (4). Therefore, radioactivity level in the human diet is of particular concern for the assessment of possible radiological hazards to human health. Fish is an essential daily diet item and also a staple food for the people of Bangladesh, evaluation of radioactivity in fish is crucial to determine the prevailing radiation dose due to their consumption. Ionizing radiation is potentially harmful, can cause damage to matter/tissue, particularly impair the normal function of the living cells or kill them and even create cancer (5). At high levels, it is therefore dangerous for human beings, so it is necessary to measure and control our exposure. A little amount of environmental radium can lead to accumulating successively in bone tissue can cause damage to bone marrow and be able to mutate bone cells that can produce cancerous cells (6, 7).
Effect of geochemical properties (pH, conductivity, TDS) on natural radioactivity and dose estimation in water samples in Kulim, Malaysia
Published in Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 2019
Nisar Ahmad, Jalil ur Rehman, Javed Rehman, Gulfam Nasar
The most important isotopes in ground water are uranium isotopes, radon isotopes and radium isotopes. The most significant isotopes of radium are 226Ra, 228Ra and have potential effects on human health. In environment, the behavior of radium is of interest, not only due to its environmental impact, but also because of its environmental behavior can be considered similar to that of 90Sr. The behavior of thorium is considered to be analogous to the behavior of 239Pu (Lauria et al. 2004). In environment, the behavior of radium can be controlled by co-precipitation and adsorption. In system of fresh water, radium can be easily adsorbed in the aqueous phase, and movement is quite limited. Among the geochemical properties of water, low pH, TDS and increased salinity are most important geochemical properties and are responsible for high concentrations of dissolved radium (Lauria and Godoy 2002; Lauria et al. 2004). Thorium exist only as Th (IV) and the minerals of Th like ThO2, has low solubility. With increasing of pH values, the adsorption of Th4+ is most important. Thorium can also be found in complexes like , and and some thorium complexes such as have high affinity for adsorption (Lauria et al. 2004). It has been observed that ground water having a high TDS value is contaminated with natural radioactivity, which is not required in drinking water. Since natural radionuclides from 232Th and 238U decay series are found in the geological strata, they can dissolved in ground water (Kozłowska et al. 2005).