Journal of Environmental Protection, 2014, 5, 193-199 Published Online February 2014 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/jep ) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jep.2014.53023 OPEN ACCESS JEP Analysis of Radium Isotopes in Surface Waters nearby a Phosphate Mining with NORM at Santa Quitéria, Brazil Wagner de S. Pereira 1,2 , Alphonse Kelecom 2 , Juliana R. de S. Pereira 3 1 Multidisciplinary Group of Radioprotection (GMR), Serviço de Radioproteção, Unidade de Tratamento de Minério, Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil, Caldas, Brazil; 2 Laboratory of Radiobiology and Radiometry Pedro Lopes dos Santos (LARARA-PLS), Group of Environmental Themes Assessment (GETA), Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Niterói, Brazil; 3 Interdisciplinary Under- Graduation in Science and Technology, Universidade Federal de Alfenas, Poços de Caldas, Brazil. Email: pereiraws@gmail.com Received November 30 th , 2013; revised December 28 th , 2013; accepted January 25 th , 2014 Copyright © 2014 Wagner de S. Pereira et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In accordance of the Creative Commons Attribution License all Copyrights © 2014 are reserved for SCIRP and the owner of the intellectual property Wagner de S. Pereira et al. All Copyright © 2014 are guarded by law and by SCIRP as a guardian. ABSTRACT The radium isotopes 226 Ra and 228 Ra were analyzed in surface water at six points in the neighborhood of a mine of phosphate, associated with uranium, in the region of Santa Quitéria, state of Ceará, Brazil. Water samples were collected during twenty months, filtered and the concentrations of activity determined in the soluble and particulate phases. The results were analyzed using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for ordination of environmental data, and also by ANOVA, Tukey and Z tests to compare sets of data considering the radionu- clides, the two analyzed phases and the six collecting points. The PCA identified four groups that included all collecting points, using aggregation features such as radionuclide and analyzed phase. The first group is com- posed by the samples of 226 Ra in the soluble phase; the second group by samples of 226 Ra in the particulate phase; the third one by 228 Ra in the soluble phase, and finally, the fourth group by 228 Ra in the particulate phase. This last group has two discrepant points (01 and 06). Statistical analysis identified differences between the concen- trations of activity of radionuclides ( 228 Ra higher than 226 Ra) and in analyzed phases (soluble phase higher than the particulate one) but showed no differences between sampled points. KEYWORDS Radioecology; Environmental Radioprotection; NORM Mining; Radium Isotopes; PCA 1. Introduction Phosphate mining and processing can cause significant radiological impacts due to the amount of radionuclides present in the ore [1]. Phosphogypsum e.g., a by-product of phosphate mining, is contaminated by heavy metals and radionuclides, especially 226 Ra [2]. Mining of phos- phate with associated Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials must thus be considered as a NORM activity. There has been an increased awareness of the radio- logical impacts of NORM non-nuclear mining pointing that this activity may cause radioactive contamination due to the by-products, wastes and to the installations themselves [3]. In this respect, the environmental impact was analyzed in three practices related to phosphate pro- duction: mines, phosphate fertilizers factory and phos- phate export platforms. Air particulates, soil, water (lake, river and sea water), biota and plant samples were col- lected and analyzed. An increase of natural radionuclides in the surroundings of the three enterprises was observed, with fallout being the principal contamination way [4]. Accordingly, the phosphate industry has been recently included within the European regulatory scope. 226 Ra was recognized as the major contaminant. It is found mainly in the processing waters, and the major releasing way is via the liquid effluents [5]. Located in the central-north region of the state of Ceará, Brazil, the “Santa Quitéria” Unit is a phosphate associated with uranium mining installation in predeve- lopment stage that belongs to the “Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil” (INB). The deposit has recoverable reserves of