title: Radon in harvested rainwater at the household level, Palestine.
abstract: The main objective of this study was to assess Radon concentration in the harvested rainwater (HRW) at the household level in Yatta area, Palestine. HRW is mainly used for drinking as it is the major source of water for domestic uses due to water scarcity. Ninety HRW samples from the household cisterns were collected from six localities (a town and five villages) and Radon concentrations were measured. The samples were randomly collected from different households to represent the Yatta area. Fifteen samples were collected from each locality at the same day. RAD7 device was used for analysis and each sample was measured in duplicate. Radon concentrations ranged from 0.037 to 0.26 Bq/L with a mean ± standard deviation of 0.14 ± 0.06 Bq/L. The estimated annual effective radiation doses for babies, children and adults were all far below the maximum limit of 5 mSvy-1set by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental and Water Studies, Birzeit University, P.O. Box 14, Birzeit, West Bank, Palestine. Electronic address: ikhatib@birzeit.edu.
authors.forename: Issam A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Al-Khatib
authors.affiliation: Public Health Department, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
authors.forename: Hamzeh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al Zabadi
authors.affiliation: Radiation Physics Laboratory, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
authors.forename: Ghassan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Saffarini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011886:Radon / Q000032:analysis*; D011891:Rain / Q000737:chemistry; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive; D011886:Radon
keywords: (222)Rn; Cistern; Developing countries; Harvested rainwater; Household