27-1 Groundwater quality and potential human health risk assessment with seasonal variations in radon-contaminated groundwater

Session: Environmental Geochemistry and Health (Posters)

Poster Booth No.: 74

Presenting Author:

Jaeyeon Kim

Authors:

Kim, Jaeyeon¹, Lee, Kang-Kun²

(1) School of Earth and Environmental Sciences (BK21), Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (The Republic of), (2) School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (The Republic of),

Abstract:

Radon in groundwater can have harmful effects on both the subsurface environment and human health when present in high concentrations. While radon is typically considered as air pollutant in previous studies, it is rarely regarded as a groundwater contaminant. The study area has faced water quality issues, including radon, uranium, and fluoride pollution, all of which pose a threat to human use of water. Furthermore, abnormal seasonal events, such as heavy rain and typhoons, are becoming more common in South Korea. Therefore, this study investigates the environmental and human health risks associated with radon in groundwater during three seasons: the rainy season, post-typhoon period, and dry season, using a hydrochemical-microbiological survey. The results show that groundwater collected after a typhoon exhibited similar hydrochemical and microbiological characteristics to those in the dry season, rather than those in the rainy season. These patterns can be explained by factors such as groundwater flow paths, accumulated precipitation, and percolation rates. Additionally, the calculated effective dose values of radon exceeded the World Health Organization's (WHO) threshold limit in all seasons, despite a low groundwater quality index (GWQI). Infants and children are more susceptible to radon-contaminated groundwater. The effective dose values were higher in the dry season compared to the rainy season, as indicated by a decrease in microbial diversity indices and an increase in pathogenic bacteria. Finally, statistical analysis using self-organizing maps (SOM) revealed that groundwater wells were primarily clustered based on the calculated effective dose of radon during the rainy season, while in the dry season, the wells were clustered by combined effects. This study demonstrates that hydrochemical-microbiological surveys with health risk assessment are useful for developing effective management plans in radon-contaminated groundwater areas. [This abstract is based on the published paper: Kim, J., & Lee, K. K. (2023). Seasonal effects on hydrochemistry, microbial diversity, and human health risks in radon-contaminated groundwater areas. Environment International, 178, 108098.] [Acknowledgments: This study was supported by the Institute for Korea Spent Nuclear Fuel (iKSNF) and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea Government (Ministry of Science and ICT, MSIT) (NRF-2021M2E1A1099413).]

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-4653

© Copyright 2025 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved.