Abstract

Concentration of uranium was assessed in ground water samples taken from hand pumps at different areas from Bhiwani, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa districts of Western Haryana, India. Fission track registration technique was used to estimate the uranium content in water samples. Uranium content in the water ranges from 6.37 µg/L (Sirsa) to 43.31 µg/L(Bhiwani) with an average value of 19.14 µg/L for the study area. Uranium concentration in all the studied samples were above the recommended value of 1.9 µg/L (ICRP, 1993) but most of the values were comparable to the safe limit of 15 µg/L (WHO, 2008). In only 15%of the samples, recorded values that were higher than the recommended level of 30 µg/L (USEPA, 2003). The results of the measurements could be of vital in radio-epidemiological assessment, diagnosis and prognosis of uranium induced diseases in the local population of the area under investigation.

Key words: Uranium, fission track, water, diagnosis.