Assessment of radiological health risk caused bynatural radioactivity in bottled spring water consumedin Türkiye

The quality of drinking water is of great importance for human health with its physical, chemical, microbial and radiological aspects and plays an important role in the preference of tap or packaged water. The main source of packaged natural spring water consumed in Türkiye is groundwater obtained from drilling wells and aquifers. The radiological quality of these waters is determined by the concentration of natural radionuclides dissolved in water coming from aquifer rocks. This study presents the first detailed radiological data on packaged natural spring water brands sold commercially in Türkiye. The activity concentrations of radiologically important radium isotopes (226Ra and 228Ra) and potassium radioisotope (40K) contained in eighty-two packaged natural spring water brands were measured by gamma-ray spectroscopy. The radiological risk caused by the consumption of the examined packaged natural spring water samples was evaluated for adults by estimating the annual effective radiation dose and the corresponding lifetime cancer risk. The activity concentrations of 228Ra measured in the water samples were found to be above the guideline level of 0.1 Bq/L and the activity concentrations of 226Ra were below the guideline level of 1 Bq/L recommended by the World Health Organization. However, radiological risk assessment reveals that the annual consumption of 130 L of packaged natural spring water in Türkiye does not pose a significant risk to human health.