Public Health, Acts and Methods of Remediation of Uranium from Ground Water (original) (raw)
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Toxicological risk assessment of protracted ingestion of uranium in groundwater
Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 2018
Groundwater samples have been collected from far-reaching locations in Solan and Shimla districts of Himachal Pradesh, India, and studied for uranium concentration using LED fluorimetry. In this region, uranium in groundwater varies from 0.12 to 19.43 lg L-1. Radiological and chemical toxicity is accounted for different uranium isotopes. The average mortality risk for uranium isotopes 234 U, 235 U, and 238 U are 2.6 9 10-12 , 3.5 9 10-10 , and 5.9 9 10-8 , respectively. Similarly, the mean morbidity risk for 234 U, 235 U and 238 U are 4.1 9 10-12 , 5.6 9 10-10 and 9.5 9 10-8 , respectively. An attempt has also been made to calculate doses for different age-groups. Highest doses, ranging from 0.30 to 48.23 lSv year-1 , are imparted to infants of 7-12 months of age which makes them the most vulnerable group of population. Using Hair Compartmental Model for uranium and mean daily uranium intake of 3.406 lg for 60-year exposure period, organspecific doses due to uranium radioisotopes, retention in prime organs/tissues and excretion rates via urine, feces and hair pathway are estimated. In this manuscript, the transfer coefficients for kidney, liver, skeleton, GI tract, soft tissues, urinary bladder, and blood are analyzed. Hair compartment model and ICRP's biokinetic model are compared in terms of uranium load in different organs after 60 years of protracted ingestion. The study on biokinetic behavior of uranium is the first of its kind in the area which is dedicated to environmental and social cause. Keywords Uranium biokinetics Á LED fluorimetry Á Hazard quotient Á Lifetime average daily dose Á Ageadjusted dose Á Organ-specific dose Á Transfer coefficients
Uranium in drinking water: a public health threat
Archives of Toxicology, 2020
Uranium (U) has no known essential biological functions. Furthermore, it is well known for its toxicity, radioactivity, and carcinogenic potency. Impacts on human health due to U exposure have been studied extensively by many researchers. Chronic exposure to low-level U isotopes (radionuclides) may be interlinked with cancer etiology and at high exposure levels , also kidney disease. Other important issues covered U and fertilizers, and also U in soils or human tissues as an easily measurable indicator element in a pathophysiological examination. Furthermore, phosphate fertilization is known as the important source of contamination with U in the agricultural land, mainly due to contamination in the phosphate rock applied for fertilizer manufacture. Therefore, long-term usage of U-bearing fertilizers can substantially increase the concentration of U in fertilized soils. It should also be noted that U is an active redox catalyst for the reaction between DNA and H 2 O 2. This review is aimed to highlight a series on various hydro-geochemical aspects in different water sources and focused on the comparison of different U contents in the drinking water sources and presentation of data in relation to health issues.
Geosystems and Geoenvironment, 2022
Uranium concentration/contamination in groundwater is currently a subject of concern all over the world due to related severe health problems to humans, as groundwater is the main drinking water source in rural and urban India and also in several parts of the world. Uranium concentration in groundwater in shallow aquifers in various states such as Punjab, Rajasthan, Karnataka Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh of India varies from 0 to 1443 ng/ml exceeding the permissible levels by WHO for drinking water (30 ng/ml), at several places. Very high concentrations ranging up to 1400 ng/ml were reported in some areas in other countries such as Canada, the USA, Mongolia, Burundi, Zambia, Nigeria, South Korea, Pakistan, Jordon, Afghanistan, China, and Myanmar. Various natural aspects which influence the uranium concentration in groundwater such as bedrock geology, water chemistry, and redox conditions, and anthropogenic sources such as mining activities (uranium, coal, and phosphate rock), nuclear activities, agricultural practices of using phosphate fertilizers, and prevalence of excessive nitrate in some areas, are described with examples. Some of the important analytical techniques for the precise and accurate determination of elemental and isotopic concentrations of uranium in water samples, such as LED fluorimetry, Raman spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), high-resolution ICP-MS (HR-ICP-MS), and multi-collector ICP-MS (MC-ICP-MS), are described. A number of advancements have taken place in remediation technologies for the removal of uranium in drinking water using different physical, chemical, and biological methods including rainwater harvesting. Various mitigation strategies for the effective removal of uranium from water during treatment, such as bioremediation using biochars from different sources, nanoparticle technology, and adsorption by magnesium (Mg)-iron (Fe)-based hydrotalcite-like compounds (MF-HT), are described in detail.
Characterization and remediation of soils contaminated with uranium
Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2009
Environmental contamination caused by radionuclides, in particular by uranium and its decay products is a serious problem worldwide. The development of nuclear science and technology has led to increasing nuclear waste containing uranium being released and disposed in the environment.
Biogeochemical behaviour and bioremediation of uranium in waters of abandoned mines
Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2013
The discharges of uranium and associated radionuclides as well as heavy metals and metalloids from waste and tailing dumps in abandoned uranium mining and processing sites pose contamination risks to surface and groundwater. Although many more are being planned for nuclear energy purposes, most of the abandoned uranium mines are a legacy of uranium production that fuelled arms race during the cold war of the last century. Since the end of cold war, there have been efforts to rehabilitate the mining sites, initially, using classical remediation techniques based on high chemical and civil engineering. Recently, bioremediation technology has been sought as alternatives to the classical approach due to reasons, which include: (a) high demand of sites requiring remediation; (b) the economic implication of running and maintaining the facilities due to high energy and work force demand; and (c) the pattern and characteristics of contaminant discharges in most of the former uranium mining and processing sites prevents the use of classical methods. This review discusses risks of uranium contamination from abandoned uranium mines from the biogeochemical point of view and the potential and limitation of uranium bioremediation technique as alternative to classical approach in abandoned uranium mining and processing sites.
The biogeochemistry and bioremediation of uranium and other priority radionuclides
2014
Microbial metabolism has the potential to alter the solubility of a broad range of priority radionuclides, including uranium, other actinides and fission products. Of notable interest has been the biostimulation of anaerobic microbial communities to remove redox-sensitive radionuclides such as uranium U(VI) from contaminated groundwaters at nuclear sites. Particularly promising are bioreduction processes, whereby bacteria enzymatically reduce aqueous U(VI) to insoluble U(IV) coupled to oxidation of an organic electron donor; and uranium phosphate biomineralisation, in which bacterial phosphatase activity cleaves organophosphates, liberating inorganic phosphate that precipitates with aqueous U(VI) as uranyl phosphate minerals. Here we review the mechanisms of uranium bioreduction and phosphate biomineralisation and their suitability to facilitate long-term precipitation of uranium from groundwater, with particular focus on in situ trials at the US Department of Energy field sites. Redox interactions of other priority radionuclides (technetium, neptunium, plutonium, americium, iodine, strontium and caesium) are also reviewed.
Soluble uranium salts enter human body through ground water and foodstuff. World Health
Soluble uranium salts enter human body through ground water and foodstuff. World Health Organization (2004) has set 15 µg/L as the "tolerated intake" of soluble uranium in drinking water. Uranium intake above this concentration is toxic to human body. The organ which are most affected are kidney and lungs leading to malfunctioning of kidneys and lung cancer. Soluble uranium is also known for its neuro-developmental, neuropsychological, cytotoxic, genotoxic and carcinogenic effects. So to overcome such hazardous problem in Bhatinda region (Cancer belt area-Jhajjal, Giana, Sivian, Malkana, Laliana, where cancer cases are prominent) of Punjab an effort has been done. Incubation of water samples with media specific for growth of Desulfovibrio genus was done for one month with soil from the same area from where water sample has been taken and with Desulfovibrio vulgaris subsp. vulgaris strain.