Gross alpha and gross beta radioactivity measurements in groundwater from Nasarawa North district Nasarawa state Nigeria

Gross alpha and gross beta radioactivity in 40 groundwater (borehole and well water) samples from Akwanga, Wamba and N/Eggon Areas of Nasarawa North District, Nasarawa State Nigeria was measured using the low background MPC2000B DP model Gross Alpha/Beta counter (ORTEC ® -Protean Instrument Corporation). The values of gross alpha activity in this study were observed to be less than those of gross beta activity. The average activity values of gross alpha and gross beta obtained were 0.25 ± 0.04 Bq/L and 2.23 ± 0.09 Bq/L for Akwanga, 0.19 ± 0.03 Bq/L and 1.62 ± 0.08 Bq/L for Wamba and 0.30 ± 0.05 Bq/L and 3.00 ± 0.14 Bq/L for N/Eggon areas, respectively. The results are found to be below the World Health Organization guideline levels for drinking water quality of 0.5 Bq/L for gross alpha but 45% of the samples slightly exceeded the 1.0 Bq/L for gross beta. This implied that the groundwater in the study area is radiologically safe for consumption and may not pose any significant health hazards to humans by way of ingestion. The groundwater from the study area is also safe for drinking as the total dissolved solids average values were below the contamination limit for palatable drinking water guideline level of 1000 mg/L. However, a radionuclide-specific test and a regular monitoring program of the environment are hereby suggested.