Health-related analysis of uranium in Fazilka district, Punjab, India

Abstract

Laser fluorimetry technique has been used to estimate uranium concentration in groundwater samples collected from 20 villages of Fazilka district, Punjab, India. The uranium concentration was found to vary from 4.32 to 83.99 μg l-1 at different locations with mean concentration of 26.51 μg l-1. Also, 24% of the drinking water samples exceeded the safe limits set by WHO, while 9% was above the limit set by AERB. Certain health risk factors like annual effective dose, excess cancer risk and lifetime average daily dose were also evaluated. The study also included uranium estimation in soil samples collected from the same villages using wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence technique. All the values were found to be well within the safe limits. Topography of the region seems to be the most likely reason for higher uranium concentration at some locations.