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Fuzzy rule based modeling for human health risk from naturally occurring radioactive materials in produced water

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-16, 19:56 authored by Chowdhury, S, Husain, T, Neil Bose
Produced water, discharged from offshore oil and gas operations, contains chemicals from formation water, condensed water, and any chemical added down hole or during the oil/water separation process. Although, most of the contaminants fall below the detection limits within a short distance from the discharge port, a few of the remaining contaminants including naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) are of concern due to their bioavailability in the media and bioaccumulation characteristics in finfish and shellfish species used for human consumption. In the past, several initiatives have been taken to model human health risk from NORM in produced water. The parameters of the available risk assessment models are imprecise and sparse in nature. In this study, a fuzzy possibilistic evaluation using fuzzy rule based modeling has been presented. Being conservative in nature, the possibilistic approach considers possible input parameter values; thus provides better environmental prediction than the Monte Carlo (MC) calculation. The uncertainties of the input parameters were captured with fuzzy triangular membership functions (TFNs). Fuzzy if-then rules were applied for input concentrations of two isotopes of radium, namely 226Ra, and 228Ra, available in produced water and bulk dilution to evaluate the radium concentration in fish tissue used for human consumption. The bulk dilution was predicted using four input parameters: produced water discharge rate, ambient seawater velocity, depth of discharge port and density gradient. The evaluated cancer risk shows compliance with the regulatory guidelines; thus minimum risk to human health is expected from NORM components in produced water. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

History

Publication title

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

Volume

89

Pagination

1-17

ISSN

0265-931X

Department/School

Australian Maritime College

Publisher

Elsevier Ltd

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Oceanic processes (excl. in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean)

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