An assessment of the radiological scenario around uranium mines in Singhbhum East district, Jharkhand, India

Appraisal of age-dependent geogenic radiation exposure and carcinogenic risks in the groundwater of Sevathur mine region, Pambar River basin, South India

This study investigates groundwater uranium contamination and radiological risks in a part of Pambar River basin, South India, a region with significant geogenic radiation influenced by carbonatite rock formations. Uranium concentrations ranged from 5.8 to 240.8 μg L⁻¹ , with 35 % of samples exceeding the WHO limit of 30 μg L⁻¹ . Annual effective doses varied from 7.22 to 604.36 μSv y⁻¹ , posing higher risks to infants. Despite these findings, cancer mortality and morbidity risks remained below the permissible thresholds, with values of 6.29 × 10-5 and 9.15 × 10-5, respectively. A strong correlation between uranium and total dissolved solids (TDS) highlights the influence of geogenic and anthropogenic factors. Petrological and geochemical analyses revealed uranium-rich pyrochlore minerals in carbonatite rocks, with an average uranium concentration of 14.08 mg kg⁻¹ . This study emphasizes the need for proactive groundwater monitoring and management in uranium-affected regions, providing insights into radiological health risks and geogenic contamination processes.

A correlational study of uranium in groundwater with other physicochemical parameters using GIS mapping in Godda district of Jharkhand, India

The present research concentrates on the cumulative use of GPS and GIS technologies, which are excellent resources for analyzing and monitoring divergent physicochemical parameters in groundwater, including pH, TDS, EC, ORP, Ca+2, Mg+2, NO3-, F-, SO4-2, Cl- and PO4-3 with explicit regard to uranium. Garmin GPS is used to record the locations of the sampling points in the Godda study area. The research aims to offer a thorough understanding of the relationship between soil and water, its impact on public health and the extent to which water can be used in various ways based on its quality. Utilizing the inverse distance weighted (IDW) technique, it is examined how these groundwater parameters and the Water Quality Index (WQI) can be estimated spatially. Additionally, a correlation analysis of the water quality parameters is computed to estimate the local population's cancer risk living in the study area. Except for calcium and magnesium, which are present in excess concentrations throughout the study area with the highest values of 325 and 406 mg/l, respectively at Amediha and Meherma, the results showed that the maximum concentration parameters are within limits with the standard. The main reason might be the area's predominance of Alfisol soil type. The radioactive element uranium is found to be in a limited  range. Chemo-toxicity and radiological risk assessment of the whole area lie far below the restricted cancer risk limit i.e., 30 ppb with the highest concentration of 14 ppb in the 'Sunderpahari' region, following the results obtained. The WQI for the area ranges from 'good' to 'very poor.' The results were favorable but a few sites such as 'Boarijor' and its surroundings, require additional attention to enhance groundwater quality. Given uranium's low availability in groundwater the region's cancer risk assessment is below average.

Application of RESRAD and ERICA tools to estimate dose and cancer risk for artisanal gold mining in Nigeria

Despite the fact that disruption of the environment through mining of minerals poses severe radiological hazards, there is a dearth of radiological information from gold mining sites in Nigeria. In this study, state-of- the-art computational tools - RESRAD ONSITE, RESRAD OFFSITE and ERICA were applied to a typical representative artisanal goldmining area for a more comprehensive evaluation of radiological risks associated with artisanal gold mining in Nigeria. The estimated doses received by an offsite receptor is within the radiation basic safety limit, while for onsite receptor it is greater than the basic radiation safety limit. It was observed that onsite dwellers of the artisanal goldmining areas may suffer high cancer burden when compared with the US EPA acceptable levels. For non-human biota, the hazard quotient was greater than unity and the total dose rate per organism was greater than the screening dose rate of 10μGy h^-1. It was observed that ²³²Th and ²²⁶Ra were the main contributors to the total dose and the pathways that contributed most to the dose were; external exposure (via direct and airborne radiation from soil and Radon) as well as water independent plant, meat and milk consumption. Therefore, monitoring food production will lead to an informed decision making and risk communication towards sustainable mining will contribute in minimizing the level of the anticipated risks as low as reasonably achievable.

Estimation of uranium in groundwater and assessment of age-dependent radiation dose in Nalbari district of Assam, India

Uranium concentration has been estimated in 31 groundwater samples collected from the Nalbari district of Assam in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon season. Fourteen other water quality parameters have also been monitored to study their correlation with uranium. The uranium concentration varies from 0.3 to 7.1 µg/L with the mean value of 2.15 µg/L in pre-monsoon and 0.6–10.3 µg/L with the mean value of 2.75 µg/L in the post-monsoon season. The higher concentration of uranium in post-monsoon may be ascribed to the dissolution of uranium from soil sediments in the rainy season. It has been observed that the uranium content in both seasons is far lower than the WHO (2011) permissible limit of 30 µg/L. In both seasons, nitrate, sulphate, and especially phosphate show a positive correlation with uranium, which may be due to different agricultural activities. Agricultural nitrate and phosphate fertilization might be the carrier of uranium in groundwater through dissolution. For all life stage groups, the annual effective dose was appeared to be far below the WHO (2011) prescribed limit of 100 µSv/y. In consideration to adults, the ingestion dose for infants was turned out to be higher. The carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk was less than the permissible limits for both children and adults. Both dose value and risk indices were found higher in the post-monsoon season.

RADIATION SITUATION IN THE TERRITORIES AFFECTED BY MINING ACTIVITIES IN STEPNOGORSK AREAS, REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN: PILOT STUDY

The Republic of Kazakhstan has a long history of mining activities, viz., gold and uranium. Mining activities represent sources of potential naturally occurring radionuclides contamination of the environment and human health of population. The aim of this study was to investigate the radiation situation of industrially modified environment in Stepnogorsk areas of Kazakhstan to understand the sources of contamination. Quite high values of ambient equivalent dose rates in air ~2.87 μSv h-1 were found in the Aqsu gold-mining site. The radon equivalent equilibrium volume activity (indoor) were in the range of 313-858 Bq m-3 in the study area buildings. The high values of activity concentration of natural radionuclides found in Aqsu soil samples were 226Ra-4060, 232Th-1170 and 40K-4080 Bq kg-1, respectively. However, our comprehensive surveys implied that the increased natural radiation background caused by the radionuclide transport from the tailing area did not have an impact, while evaluation of its potential radiation risks and remediation of the territories of the former gold mining should be needed.