
Radiological Status of Drinking Water Sources Around a Coal Mining Site in Kogi State, North Central Nigeria
Author(s) -
Abuh Momoh,
I. Ochalla,
D.O. Ocheni,
D.R. Ajibade,
A.I. Bello
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of applied science and environmental management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2659-1499
pISSN - 2659-1502
DOI - 10.4314/jasem.v24i5.27
Subject(s) - radiological weapon , environmental science , local government area , effective dose (radiation) , coal mining , coal , environmental health , hydrology (agriculture) , geography , local government , nuclear medicine , medicine , engineering , radiochemistry , archaeology , chemistry , geotechnical engineering
The radioactivity of drinking water sources around Okaba coal mining area in Ankpa local government area of Kogi state, North central Nigeria have been carried out using a low background Gasless Alpha- Beta Counting System (Protean Instrument Corporation) – MPC 2000DP. The gross alpha and gross beta activity of water samples from four (4) sources (river/stream, borehole, sachet water and rain water) was measured. The grossalphaand gross-beta activity concentrations recorded were below the safe limits of 0.5 Bq/l and 1 Bq/l respectively, as recommended by the world health organization (WHO, 2017). Also, results of the committed effective dose (for adult and infant) calculated were all below the reference dose level (RDL) of 0.1mSv/yr (WHO, 2017) except for BW3 whose adult dose was above the RDL. Therefore, there is no immediate risk of internal radiation exposure to the populace via intake of water from the four major sources of drinking water around Okaba coal mining area. However, caution should be taken especially with regards long-term consumption of the ground water (BW3).
Keywords: Okaba, radioactivity, gross-alpha, gross-beta, coal, water