Bengaluru: Researchers who came together for a training session on ” Health in a changing climate” Empowering Health professionals” at the Indian Institute of Science have shown that some locations on the outskirts of Bengaluru had high radon levels in the groundwater used for drinking.
Granites that are radioactive emit this radon. Long-term exposure to radon can raise the chance of developing lung cancer.
Experts claim that uranium spontaneously decays into radon and radium through radioactive processes.
According to the researcher’s first investigations, the level of radon is 50 to 100 times higher than the allowable limit of 11.1 Bq per litre.
The investigation of radon in drinking water has received more attention as a result of this discovery.
The researchers realised that the uranium level might be high because radon is naturally produced from uranium.
They discovered a high uranium level in groundwater, partially in the Bengaluru suburbs of Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Chintamani, and Pavagada.
According to researcher, certain areas of the city’s periphery have uranium levels in the water that are up to 300 micrograms per litre, well beyond the allowed limit of 60 micrograms per litre.
It varies between 5000 and 6000 micrograms per litre in Chikkaballapur, Kolar, and Chintamani. The researcher stated that “level of radon is being studied as it as a matter of concern.
If the area is properly aired, radon in the air shouldn’t be a significant worry. According to Prof. R. Srinivasan of the Divecha Centre for Climate Change (DCCC), IISc, it shouldn’t build up indoors.
Lung and Kidney cancer can be brought on by radon in the air and uranium in water.
In contrast to uranium, which affects the urinary tract and increases the risk of kidney cancer, radon damages lung tissues when it is present in the air and water.
Radon contamination of the air and water causes lung damage Dr. H. Paramesh, Professor at DCCC and consultant for the World Health Organisation, also stated that preliminary research indicated Chikkaballapur to have uranium levels exceeding 1000, compared to the permissible levels of 30-60 micrograms per litre.
It’s interesting that while some former Groundwater Board officials have researched the existence of radon in water, curently employed officials acknowledged that they had not pursued additional research on the subject.
According to Srinivasan, consideration is also being given to how to dispose of treated waste water because it too contains a lot of uranium.
He said studies on the wastewater of reverse osmosis (RO) units have found high content of Uranium and has been a matter of concern.
