Tritium activity concentration and radiation doses in South Korean bottled water: A safety assessment

In this study, tritium activity concentrations in commercially available bottled water in South Korea were determined using two analytical methods: direct distillation and electrolytic enrichment. A total of 36 bottled water samples, including four international brands, were collected in 2024 and analyzed. All samples analyzed using the distillation method yielded tritium concentrations below the minimum detectable activity (MDA). In contrast, the enrichment method, by pre-concentrating tritium, reduced the MDA by at least one order of magnitude, enabling the detection of tritium concentrations ranging from 0.145 ± 0.029 Bq/L to 1.082 ± 0.099 Bq/L. These values were well below the world health organization (WHO) guideline of 10,000 Bq/L for tritium in drinking water. Annual effective doses (AEDs) were calculated for different age groups, and all values were orders of magnitude lower than the ICRP’s recommended limit of 1 mSv/year for public exposure. These findings indicate that the consumption of the analyzed bottled water samples does not pose a significant radiological health risk from tritium exposure.