Omeje Maxwell
Universiti Teknologi, Malaysia
Title: Tectonic and radioactivity impacts of 238U on groundwater based drinking Water at Gosa and Lugbe Area of Abuja, North Central Nigeria
Biography
Biography: Omeje Maxwell
Abstract
Tectonic contribution of activity level of 238U in groundwater based drinking water in Gosa and Lugbe area of Abuja were measured using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP- MS). The highest activity level of 2736 Bq L-1 reported in Lugbe borehole whereas the lowest value of 443 Bq L‒1 reported at Gosa borehole. The inhabitants permanently used water from the boreholes for daily consumption. The group receives 5.55 x 10‒5 mSv of the annual collective effective dose due to 238U in drinking water. The radiological risks of 238U in the water samples were found to be low, typically in magnitude of 10−7 with cancer mortality value of 1.03 × 10‒7and morbidity value of 1.57 x 10‒7. The chemical toxicity risk of 238U in drinking water over a life time consumption has a mean value of 4.0 x 10ï€3 μg kg‒1 day‒1 . It could be that the human risk due to 238U content in groundwater supplies from ingestion may likely be the chemical toxicity of 238U as a heavy metal rather than radiological risk. Significantly, Lugbe subsurface may have developed some fractions of granitic strata that contributed to the distribution of radioactive of 238U in tectonically weak zones.