Radioactive Contamination and Health Risk Assessment of Well Water in Safi Industrial Zone, Morocco

Radioactive Contamination and Health Risk Assessment of Well Water in Safi Industrial Zone, Morocco | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Radioactive Contamination and Health Risk Assessment of Well Water in Safi Industrial Zone, Morocco Fatima AIT NOUH, Hassan Khajmi, Abdessamad Tounsi, Abdellatif Talbi, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9065317/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study assesses the contamination of drinking water from wells in the industrial zone of Safi, Morocco, by analysing 238 U and 232 Th concentrations from phosphate waste via Solid State Nuclear Trace Detector (SSNTD) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) techniques. The results show significant geographical variability and signs of contamination linked to industrial activities. Measured alpha volumetric activities for 238 U ranged from 176 mBq L − 1 to 342 mBq L − 1 , and for 232 Th from 19 mBq L − 1 to 102 mBq L − 1 , presenting a potential health risk. The study examined the committed annual effective doses resulting from ingestion of 238U and 232Th via well water for individuals of different ages ( 17 years). However, these doses remain below the WHO-recommended threshold of 100 mSv y − 1 for most age groups, except for children under one year of age. No correlation between pH, conductivity, and radionuclide concentrations, suggesting that other factors, such as industrial discharges and local geological conditions, have a greater influence on their distribution. Radioactive contamination 238U 232Th Well water pollution Industrial impact Health risk Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 25 Mar, 2026 Editor invited by journal 19 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 18 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 14 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9065317","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":611904442,"identity":"41c83086-faae-4d4a-9d3a-7468b806e2db","order_by":0,"name":"Fatima AIT 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Research","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Radioactive contamination, 238U, 232Th, Well water pollution, Industrial impact, Health risk","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9065317/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9065317/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study assesses the contamination of drinking water from wells in the industrial zone of Safi, Morocco, by analysing \u003csup\u003e238\u003c/sup\u003eU and \u003csup\u003e232\u003c/sup\u003eTh concentrations from phosphate waste via Solid State Nuclear Trace Detector (SSNTD) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) techniques. The results show significant geographical variability and signs of contamination linked to industrial activities. Measured alpha volumetric activities for \u003csup\u003e238\u003c/sup\u003eU ranged from 176 mBq L\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e to 342 mBq L\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, and for \u003csup\u003e232\u003c/sup\u003eTh from 19 mBq L\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e to 102 mBq L\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, presenting a potential health risk. The study examined the committed annual effective doses resulting from ingestion of 238U and 232Th via well water for individuals of different ages (\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;1 year, 1\u0026ndash;2 years, 2\u0026ndash;7 years, 7\u0026ndash;12 years, 12\u0026ndash;17 years, and \u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;17 years). However, these doses remain below the WHO-recommended threshold of 100 mSv y\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e for most age groups, except for children under one year of age. No correlation between pH, conductivity, and radionuclide concentrations, suggesting that other factors, such as industrial discharges and local geological conditions, have a greater influence on their distribution.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Radioactive Contamination and Health Risk Assessment of Well Water in Safi Industrial Zone, Morocco","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-27 04:33:45","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9065317/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2026-03-26T19:57:46+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-03-25T09:52:39+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"Environmental Science and Pollution Research","date":"2026-03-19T09:53:19+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-03-18T05:16:39+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Environmental Science and Pollution Research","date":"2026-03-14T19:02:29+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"environmental-science-and-pollution-research","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"espr","sideBox":"Learn more about [Environmental Science and Pollution Research](https://www.springer.com/journal/11356)","snPcode":"11356","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11356/3","title":"Environmental Science and Pollution Research","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"363b3b53-dbd4-4fac-95fe-ef502d25d8c7","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 27th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-27T04:33:46+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-27 04:33:45","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9065317","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9065317","identity":"rs-9065317","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}