RADIOLOGICAL OF NATURAL AND MINERAL DRINKING WATERS IN SLOVENIA

Various types of water were collected in Slovenia and analysed in order to assess the radiation doses from U-238, U-234, 228122, Ra-226, Pb-210 and Po-210 for three different age groups of the population. It was found in all cases that the calculated median committed effective dose from the investigated radionuclides for each population group was well below the recommended value of 100 mu Sv y(-1), ranging from 4 to 7 mu Sv y(-1) adults, from 8 to 10 mu Sv y(-1) children and from 6 to 7 mu Sv y(-1) infants. Of the investigated groups of the population children are the most exposed with the highest absolute doses of 19.1 and 18.7 mu Sv y(-1) drinking a certain bottled brand of mineral and natural water, respectively. The contribution of each particular radionuclide to total doses varied among different water types and within each type, as well as between different age groups.