Neutron Induced Fission Track Estimation of Uranium Concentration and Its Associated Health Hazards in Drinking Water of the Faisalabad Industrial City

M. Akram, Muddasir Nazar, A. Ghaffar, F. Malik, N. Ali, S. A. Mujahid, M. U. Rajput, Matiullah  

Department of Physics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Physics Division, PINSTECH, Islamabad, Pakistan.

DOI: 10.4236/wjnst.2013.32009                

Abstract

Drinking water plays a major role regarding quality of human life because polluted water is the main cause of many types of diseases. Besides other pollutants, high concentration of uranium above a certain level in drinking water is also hazardous. As water and food are the main sources of uranium intake, it is absolutely imperative that their level of concentrations is monitored regularly for safety of the general public. In this regard, trace amount of uranium in drinking water samples collected from different locations of Faisalabadcity has been carried out using Neutron Induced Fission Track Technique. The water samples along with the standard of known uranium concentration were poured and dried over Lexan track detectors and then irradiated with thermal neutrons in Reactor. After etching, the tracks produced in the detectors as a result of ²³⁵U (n, f) reaction were counted under an optical microscope. The uranium concentration was determined by counting and comparing the observed fission track density in the samples and the standard. The observed uranium concentration in the studied water samples varied from (1.04 ± 0.30) μg·L^-1 to (21.08 ± 2. 95) μg·L^-1 with an average value of (7.39 ± 1.30) μg·L^-1 and is found to be within safe limits as far as uranium related health hazards are concerned.

Keywords

Drinking Water; Uranium; Fission Tracks; Etching; Health Hazard

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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