Jordan's Water is Radioactive - Source Unknown

[The Sushi Bandit]

Source: Physics.org and Current.com

Ancient groundwater being tapped by Jordan, one of the 10 most water-deprived nations in the world, has been found to contain twenty times the radiation considered safe for drinking water in a new study by an international team of researchers.

"The combined activities of 228 radium and 226 radium - the two long-lived isotopes of radium - in the groundwater we tested are up to 2000 percent higher than international drinking standards," said Avner Vengosh, associate professor of earth and ocean sciences in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.

Read more: http://current.com/items/89841967/jordan_s_water_is_radioactive_source_unknown.htm

[Vincardog]

1. Can anyone spell DU (AKA Depleted Uranium)?

[Gregorian]

4. But this is Radium. It's the stuff used in luminous watch faces.

I don't think it's DU, although I'm one who has been screaming for years about it. The halflife of Radium is nothing in comparison.

Yeah, it was my first thought too. But there's Radium in water tables over here.

[Tesha]

2. Well, that's true in much of America's Northeast as well.

Water that comes from granite has various radioactive isotopes
in it (notably radon descended from radium).

Tesha

[Cetacea]

5. And most of Europe thanks to Chernobyl Nuke Plant.

As long as we ban smoking, I'm alright with it.

[hedgehog]

3. From the article:

"Sandstone aquifers, on the other hand, offer fewer adsorption sites, and, as a result, generate radium-rich groundwater."

[HereSince1628]

6. Does Jordan share an aquifer with SE Wisconsin?

Our radioactive content isn't near 2000 percent too high, but in many communities well water is many times safe federal levels.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. High Naturally Occurring Radioactivity in Fossil Groundwater from the Middle East

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es802969r

High Naturally Occurring Radioactivity in Fossil Groundwater from the Middle East

…

Abstract

High levels of naturally occurring and carcinogenic radium isotopes have been measured in low-saline and oxic groundwater from the Rum Group of the Disi sandstone aquifer in Jordan. The combined ²²⁸Ra and ²²⁶Ra activities are up to 2000% higher than international drinking water standards. Analyses of the host sandstone aquifer rocks show ²²⁸Ra and ²²⁶Ra activities and ratios that are consistent with previous reports of sandstone rocks from different parts of the world. A compilation of previous data in groundwater from worldwide sandstone aquifers shows large variations in Ra activities regardless of the groundwater salinity. On the basis of the distribution of the four Ra isotopes and the ratios of the short- to long-lived Ra isotopes, we postulate that Ra activity in groundwater is controlled by the balance of radioactive decay of parent Th isotopes on aquifer solids, decay of the dissolved radium isotopes, and adsorption of dissolved Ra on solid surfaces. The availability of surface adsorption sites, which depends on the clay content in the aquifer rocks, is therefore an important constraint for Ra activity in sandstone aquifers. These findings raise concerns about the safety of this and similar nonrenewable groundwater reservoirs, exacerbating the already severe water crisis in the Middle East.

[tom_paine]

8. Excellent find!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: