Introduction

 

Mineral water consumption habits have changed in the past few years and more and more people are consuming mineral water on a daily basis. Romania is very rich in mineral water resources, that is why local people consume these waters on a daily basis. Due to the increased demand and consumption, it is important to study the properties of mineral waters.

In this research we examine the activity concentration of ²²⁶Ra in some mineral water sources in the Ciucul de Sus Basin (Felcsíki-medence) and the Rodna Mountains (Radnai-havasok). We examined the ²²⁶Ra activity concentration of 12 sources in the Ciucul de Sus Basin and 6 sources in the Rodna Mountains. In addition, we examined the annual effective dose corresponding to ²²⁶Ra activities and compared it with the limit of 0,1mSv set by the WHO for the consumption of 2 liters of water/day in a year.

The ²²⁶Ra activity concentration of the waters was examined using the LUK3 radon monitor. We compared the activity concentration of ²²⁶Ra in mineral waters from Rodna mountains and Ciucul de Sus Basin and compared it with different values in the literature. Finally, we calculated the dose contribution from radium content of the consumed waters.