Health risk assessments due to uranium contamination of drinking water in Bathinda region, Punjab state, India

Department of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar 143005, India
rajeshmahajan53@gmail.com

Received: 5 April 2012
Accepted: 20 September 2012

Abstract

The mass concentration of uranium in water samples collected from the Bathinda district of Punjab state, India, was estimated using the laser fluorimetric technique. The study region has shown a pronounced number of cancer cases in the recent period. The study aims to calculate the human radiological risk and chemical toxicity associated with uranium consumption through drinking water. The mass concentration of uranium was found to vary from 0.48 to 571.7 μg/l with a mean value of 84.70 μg/l. The radiological risk due to consumption of uranium through contaminated drinking water was observed to be in the range of 1.34 × 10^-6 to 1.60 × 10^-3 with a mean value of 2.37 × 10^-4. The chemical toxicity was found to vary from 0.04–43.11 µg.kg^-1.day^-1 with a mean value of 6.38 µg.kg^-1.day^-1.