Measurement of gross alpha and beta activity
concentration in groundwater of Jordan: groundwater
quality, annual effective dose and lifetime risk
assessment
Ahmad Hussein Alomari, Muneer Aziz Saleh, Suhairul Hashim,
Amal Alsayaheen, Ismail Abdeldin and Refaat Bani khalaf
ABSTRACT
The current study was conducted to measure the activity concentration of the gross alpha and beta in
87 groundwater samples collected from the productive aquifers that constitute a major source of
groundwater to evaluate the annual effective dose and the corresponding health impact on the
population and to investigate the quality of groundwater in Jordan. The mean activity concentration of
gross alpha and beta in groundwater ranges from 0.26 ± 0.03 to 3.58 ± 0.55 Bq L
1
and from 0.51 ±
0.07 to 3.43 ± 0.46 Bq L
1
, respectively. A very strong relationship was found between gross alpha and
beta activity concentrations. The annual effective dose for alpha and beta was found in the range of
0.32–2.40 mSv with a mean value of 0.89 mSv, which is nine times higher than the World Health
Organization (WHO) recommended limit and one and half times higher than the national regulation
limit. The mean lifetime risk was found to be 45.47 × 10
4
higher than the Jordanian estimated upper-
bound lifetime risk of 25 × 10
4
. The data obtained in the study would be the baseline for further
epidemiological studies on health effects related to the exposure to natural radioactivity in Jordan.
Ahmad Hussein Alomari (corresponding author)
Suhairul Hashim
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
Skudai, Johore Bahru, Johore 81310,
Malaysia
E-mail: anas9722003@yahoo.com
Muneer Aziz Saleh
Nuclear Engineering programme, Faculty of
Chemical and Energy Engineering,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
Skudai, Johore Bahru, Johore 81310,
Malaysia
Amal Alsayaheen
Ismail Abdeldin
Refaat Bani khalaf
Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ),
Amman,
Jordan
Key words | effective dose, gross alpha beta, groundwater quality, internal hazard, Jordan, natural
radioactivity
INTRODUCTION
Natural radioactivity in drinking water is of great concern
worldwide because it is consumed daily and because of
the water’s ability to transport pollutants (Subramani et al.
). The radioactivity in groundwater comes mainly from
radionuclides of the natural decay chains
238
U and
232
Th
in soil and bedrock (Dinh Chau et al. ). Besides that,
the levels of naturally occurring radionuclides in drinking
water may be increased through human activities. Uranium
exploration and mining started in Jordan in 2008 (Xoubi
). Mining of solid minerals has been linked with the
dispersion of primordial radionuclides in the environment
and may result in a build-up of radionuclides in groundwater
(Aliyu et al. ). Groundwater is the main source for
drinking and other uses in Jordan. Consequently, these
radionuclides transported in groundwater can enter the
food chain through irrigation waters and the water source
through groundwater wells. Thus, the ingestion of radio-
nuclides in drinking water causes human internal exposure.
Humans are exposed naturally to ionizing radiation
from a number of sources which include cosmic rays and
natural radionuclides in air, food, and drinking water
(UNSCEAR ). The presence of radionuclides in
957 © IWA Publishing 2019 Journal of Water and Health | 17.6 | 2019
doi: 10.2166/wh.2019.158
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