Monitoramento ambiental da radioatividade em águas de abastecimento público de Goiás

Abstract

The presence of natural radionuclides in water intended for human consumption is a common phenomenon that requires monitoring and prevention. Prolonged and continuous ingestion of water containing low doses of radiation can constitute a danger to public health. One of the long-term effects of exposure, even to low doses of radiation, is the occurrence of oncological diseases in the population. The current Brazilian legislative context, through Ministry of Health Ordinance GM/MS No. 888/2021, establishes water potability requirements for the protection of public health, with regard to radioactive substances present in water for human consumption, establishing parametric values and applicable methods for their control. Three articles derived from specific research on the subject were developed in this work. The first article is a systematic review of the literature on radioactivity in water intended for human consumption and its monitoring. The second article characterizes the natural radioactivity of public water supplies in municipalities in the state of Goiás, between 2011 and 2017, where it was found that the water used for human consumption showed results that met the screening levels for radiological potability set by current standards, in most locations. These safety limits were exceeded in the water from the catchments of three municipalities in terms of gross alpha activity and in four municipalities for gross beta activity, for which it is requested that the radiometric monitoring actions be extended until they are adequate. The third article presents the monitoring of natural radioactivity in water intended for public supply from underground abstractions in the municipality of Goiás-GO. Some wells showed a total alpha content above the recommended level, confirmed by the presence of uranium (U-238). For the regions whose springs showed values above those recommended by Brazilian regulations, it was not necessary to interrupt the water supply, but strategies were suggested for environmental monitoring of the radionuclides present in natural resources.