The soaring radioactivity levels measured in the Negev Desert and in the Arava valley, a fault line on the border with Jordan, are caused by the existence of natural radioactive elements such as uranium and radon gas, the study by the Beersheva-based Ben Gurion University said.

Professor Avner Vengosh, one of the study's authors, dismissed any relation between the abnormal findings and the nearby nuclear plant of Dimona, also in southern Israel.

"This phenomena has spread throughout the area," he said referring to Jordan and Egypt's Sinai desert.

"We discovered concentrations of radium reaching up to 10 times the normal average in (Israel's) water table," he added.

Officials in the environment ministry have advised local fish farmers not to use the water for fear it will contaminate fish destined for human consumption.

The agriculture ministry insisted however that no contaminated fish had been found in the area.

TERRA.WIRE