干旱区生态环境知识资源中心(Arid): Elevated radium levels in Nubian Aquifer groundwater of Northeastern Africa

Arid

DOI	10.1038/s41598-020-80160-0
	Elevated radium levels in Nubian Aquifer groundwater of Northeastern Africa
	Sherif, Mahmoud, I; Sturchio, Neil C.
通讯作者	Sherif, MI (corresponding author), Univ Delaware, Dept Earth Sci, Newark, DE 19716 USA. ; Sherif, MI (corresponding author), Tanta Univ, Dept Geol, Tanta 31527, Egypt.
来源期刊	SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
ISSN	2045-2322
出版年	2021
卷号	11 期号:1
英文摘要	The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System in Northeast Africa and the Middle East is a huge water resource of inestimable value to the population. However, natural radioactivity impairs groundwater quality throughout the aquifer posing a radiological health risk to millions of people. Here we present measurements of radium isotopes in Nubian Aquifer groundwater from population centers in the Western Desert of Egypt. Groundwater has Ra-226 and Ra-228 activities ranging from 0.01 to 2.11 and 0.03 to 2.31 Bq/L, respectively. Most activities (combined Ra-226+Ra-228) exceed U.S. EPA drinking water standards. The estimated annual radiation doses associated with ingestion of water having the highest measured Ra activities are up to 138 and 14 times the WHO-recommended maxima for infants and adults, respectively. Dissolved Ra activities are positively correlated with barium and negatively correlated with sulfate, while barite is approximately saturated. In contrast, Ra is uncorrelated with salinity. These observations indicate the dominant geochemical mechanisms controlling dissolved Ra activity may be barite precipitation and sulfate reduction, along with input from alpha-recoil and dissolution of aquifer minerals and loss by radioactive decay. Radium mitigation measures should be adopted for water quality management where Nubian Aquifer groundwater is produced for agricultural and domestic consumption.
类型	Article
语种	英语
开放获取类型	Green Published, gold
收录类别	SCI-E
WOS记录号	WOS:000634375500008
WOS类目	Multidisciplinary Sciences
WOS研究方向	Science & Technology - Other Topics
资源类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/351736
作者单位	[Sherif, Mahmoud, I; Sturchio, Neil C.] Univ Delaware, Dept Earth Sci, Newark, DE 19716 USA; [Sherif, Mahmoud, I] Tanta Univ, Dept Geol, Tanta 31527, Egypt
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Sherif, Mahmoud, I,Sturchio, Neil C.. Elevated radium levels in Nubian Aquifer groundwater of Northeastern Africa[J],2021,11(1).
APA	Sherif, Mahmoud, I,&Sturchio, Neil C..(2021).Elevated radium levels in Nubian Aquifer groundwater of Northeastern Africa.SCIENTIFIC REPORTS,11(1).
MLA	Sherif, Mahmoud, I,et al."Elevated radium levels in Nubian Aquifer groundwater of Northeastern Africa".SCIENTIFIC REPORTS 11.1(2021).