Work

Evaluating 210Po occurrence in Chinese bottled waters: Radiochemical determination, multielement profiling, and ingestion-dose implications

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Polonium-210 ( 210 Po) is one of the most radiotoxic naturally occurring radionuclides, yet its occurrence in commercially bottled drinking waters remains insufficiently characterized, particularly in rapidly expanding markets such as China. Here, 210 Po activity and multielement composition were determined in bottled drinking waters from high-selling commercial brands in China. Targeted radiochemical determination of 210 Po was combined with multielement ICP-MS profiling and exploratory chemometric analysis to describe compositional variability among products. Measured 210 Po levels ranged from 0.07 to 6.45 mBq/L. Among waters, a correlation was observed with broader gradients in mineralization and elemental composition, rather than with individual elements. Bottled waters characterized by higher mineral content generally exhibited higher 210 Po activities, whereas purified and low-mineralized waters showed uniformly low levels. Integration of model-derived soil 226 Ra did not indicate significant explanatory power for 210 Po in this dataset, suggesting that 210 Po occurrence was more likely aligned with mineralization-related geochemical gradients than with these precursor-related variables. Committed effective doses from ingestion were estimated for different age groups based on measured activities and reference consumption rates. This study provides the integrated 210 Po and multielement characterization of bottled drinking waters from the Chinese market and supports food-safety-oriented assessment of naturally occurring radionuclides in commercial drinking-water products.

Source: Journal of Food Composition and Analysis

DOI: 10.1016/j.jfca.2026.109663

Authors: Jarosław Wieczorek, Hui Zhang, Paweł Rudnicki-Velasquez, Alicja Boryło, Weihai Zhuo, Bin Feng

Institutions: Fudan University, Narodowy Instytut Leków, University of Gdańsk

Language: English

Topic: Radioactivity and Radon Measurements

Subfield: Radiation

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Clean water and sanitation, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,450