Role of lithology in the presence of natural radioactivity in drinking water samples from Tarragona province.

One hundred and ninety-six drinking water samples from the different regions of Tarragona province (Catalonia, Spain) were analysed to determine the gross alpha and beta activity. Individual alpha emitting isotope activities were also determined to evaluate a possible relationship between their radiological content and the lithological and hydrogeological formations present in the studied area. The results obtained showed that approximately 23% of the analysed samples, mainly from five of the evaluated regions, had a gross alpha index exceeding the parametric value of 0.

Determination of volatile organic compounds in urban and industrial air from Tarragona by thermal desorption and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

This study describes the optimisation of an analytical method to determine 54 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air samples by active collection on multisorbent tubes, followed by thermal desorption and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Two multisorbent beds, Carbograph 1/Carboxen 1000 and Tenax/Carbograph 1TD, were tested. The latter gave better results, mainly in terms of the peaks that appeared in blank chromatograms.