Radiation-Induced Decomposition Of Pollutants In Water. A Short Review

INTRODUCTION

The rather strong development of various industries in the last decades and the growth
of the world population led to a overloading of the global environment, esspecially in respect
to the water resources. The disposal of large amounts of chemical waste in rivers, seas and
oceanes contributed essentially to the destruction of marine life. The worldwide application
of the fertilizer, pesticides etc. in the modern agriculture led to a pollution of the ground
water in various regions. Last but not least the chlorination of drinking water (containing
humig substances) for desinfection purposes leads to the formation of a number of
toxicological compounds /1 - 3/. It was found that the methabolism of such substances in the
human organism is implicated in various deseses /4/. Hence, the requirement of new
technologies for an efficient purification of drinking water becomes of special importance.

Based on the carefully investigations in this domain in several laboratories it has been
demonstrated that a complete decomposition of biologically resistent pollutants in water can
be achieved by irradiation treatment /e.g. 5 - 21 and refer. therein/. After a short glance at
some basic, subjects, e.g. radiation sources, useful units, depth-dose áourves for various
electron energies and the primary processes of water radiolysis the radiation induced
decomposition of water pollutants will be discussed.