Publication by the Laboratory of Radiation Monitoring on the assessment of natural radioactivity in underground water sources for personal use in the city of Zhytomyr and its suburbs

The article reviews recent research and data analysis on natural radioactivity in 49 artesian drinking water samples from private sources in Zhytomyr city and its suburbs. The measurements support the installation of modern water purification systems, especially to lower natural radionuclides. A liquid scintillation spectrometer and an HPG γ-spectrometer were used to measure activity concentrations of ²²²Rn, total uranium, ²²⁶Ra, and ²²⁸Ra isotopes. LSC-based methods were employed to measure ²²²Rn and ²²⁶Ra in a two-phase sample; uranium was extracted using a 20% solution of TBP in o-xylene to determine activity concentration via LSC. Recently developed simple procedures have been used to concentrate water radioactivity with ion-exchange resins, thereby improving detection limits for uranium and radium isotopes. These methods rely on straightforward techniques and widely available materials. Water radionuclide data collected over the past three years include ²²⁸Ra. We compared it with data from the previous three-year set of similar water sample studies and with data from studies conducted on drinking water sources in the Zhytomyr region from 1999 to 2019. The data were consistent across sources. The ²²⁶Ra/²²⁸Ra ratio mainly ranges from 0.5 to 3.5. Radiation doses were expressed as lifetime average annual doses, considering age-dependent dose coefficients and relevant weighting factors. When evaluating potential radiation exposure, emphasis is placed on Ra isotopes, as they contribute most to the radiation dose. The activity concentration of ²²⁸Ra ranged from 3 to 500 mBq/L, corresponding to an irradiation dose of 2.7 to 452 µSv/y, which accounts for up to 96.2% (median – 65.6%) of the total irradiation dose from U and Ra isotopes ingested through drinking water.

Cite this article : Buzynnyi, M., Prihod’ko, R. & Mykhailova, L. Estimation of natural radioactivity in underground water sources for personal use in Zhytomyr city and its suburbs. Sci Rep 15, 37966 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-21813-w

Head of the Laboratory of Radiation Monitoring
Doctor of Biological Sciences Mykhailo Buzynnyi

(date of publication on the website: 04.11.2025)