A Study of Radon Concentration in Drinking Water of Lolab valley, Kashmir Himalaya

Abstract

In the present study, radon concentration has been estimated in drinking water samples of different locations of Lolab in Kupwara district of Kashmir valley. A scintillation based detector, (Smart RnDuo) has been used to evaluate the radon concentration in collected drinking water samples. In addition, the surface contamination of gamma radiations at each location was detected using portable gamma ray detector (PM 1405, Polimaster Inc., USA). The radon concentration in drinking water samples has been found to vary from 3.27 to 59.50 BqL−1, with an average of 23.65 BqL-1.The annual inhalation dose varied from 0.01 to 0.15 mSvy-1. The average annual inhalation dose was found to be 0.06 mSvy-1 and it lies well within the permissible limits.