TITLE:
Determination of Radionuclides in Borehole Water in the Adenta Municipality of Greater Accra Region
AUTHORS:
H. K. Agyeman, T. Glover, B. J. Nyarko, S. Osae, E. O. Darko, F. Adeku, J. K. Amoako, J. Owusu-Banahene, S. Inkoom, B. K. Agyeman, M. Abubakar, P. O. Manteaw, E. Amoatey, O. Gyamfi, D. F. Charles
KEYWORDS:
Boreholes, Radionuclides, Inhabitants, Exposure and Norms
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.6 No.8,
August
26,
2019
ABSTRACT: This study was carried out in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana mainly in the Adenta Municipality to determine the baseline radioactivity levels of naturally occurring radioactive material of water in boreholes using gamma spectrometry. According to WHO, the recommended limit of total committed annual ef-fective dose should be 100 uSv/yr for radioactive materials such as 40K, 226Ra and 232Th, which will be the subject of interest in the borehole water in the Adenta Municipality. Their average total committed annual effective dose due to intake was estimated to be 33.86 μSv/yr, respectively, which is far below the WHO recommended value. The average activity concentrations of 40K, 226Ra and 232Th in the fifth teen boreholes were measured as follows, 8.76 Bq/L ± to 1.28 Bq/L for 40K, 0.82 Bq/L ± to 0.15 Bq/L for 226Ra and 0.69 Bq/L ± to 0.11 Bq/L for 232Th respectively. Two of the boreholes exceeded the WHO recom-mended values for total committed annual effective dose. These are BW2 and BW7 with recording values of 138.41 and 131.21 respectively. The results from this study will serve as baseline data for further research in the Adenta Munic-ipality.