ABSTRACT
The activity concentrations of the naturally occurring radionuclides 238U, 234U and 210Po have been determined for the first time in drinking water from certain sources in Southern Bulgaria using nuclear and radiochemical methods. The results obtained for the water samples vary in the intervals 0.6-678 mBq l-1 for 238U, 1.4-1484 mBq l-1 for 234U, <0.3-13.6 mBq l-1 for 210Po and 1.04-10.6 for the 234U/238U ratio. The annual effective dose from 238U, 234U and 210Po ranges from 1.09 to 44.1 µSv y-1, 0.78 to 46.8 µSv y-1 and 0.77 to 62.8 µSv y-1 for infants, children and adults, respectively. The annual effective dose due to consumption of drinking water is below the individual dose criterion of 100 µSv y-1 recommended by the World Health Organization. The natural radioactivity of the water sources investigated is below the national and international limits.
