Measurement and comparison of radioactivity concentration of radon indoor air of buildings faced by granite and carbonate

Authors

10.22052/1.2.11

Abstract

  Based on the last presented reports of UNSCEAR, inhalation of radon gas and its short-lived decay products is a major contributor to the human exposure from natural radioactivity. Lung cancer is the known effect on human health from exposure to radon in air. Radon is found in outdoor air of buildings of all kinds. The main important isotope of radon is 222Rn. Radon (222Rn) is a noble gas produced by radioactive decay of radium (226Ra), which is a decay product of Uranium (238U). Uranium and radium occur naturally in soils and rocks. Radon is found in significant concentrations in the human environment, particularly within indoor air of buildings faced by granite stones as internal decoration. Over the past few decades, natural radiation exposure due to 222Rn and its progeny inside houses has been recognized as a worldwide problem and a cause of significant lung cancer risk to the population .

In this study the results of measurement of activity concentration of radon in indoor air of two different buildings which have been used granite and carbonate stones as internal decoration, are presented and compared.

Activity concentration of radon was measured by AlphaGuardTM apparatus. The average radon concentrations determined in two different buildings with carbonates and granite stones were 11 and 59 Bq.m-3, respectively. These values are below the radon reference levels which range from 200-600 Bq.m-3 as recommended by ICRP, IAEA, and is lower than US-EPA and WHO action levels 148 and 100 Bq.m-3, respectively.

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References

[1] WHO, Handbook on indoor radon: a public health perspective, edited by HajoZeeb, and FeridShannoun, World Health Organization, 2009. [2] World Nuclear Association; WNA: http://www.world-nuclear.org [3] UNSCEAR. United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. Sources and Effects of ionizing Radiation. UN, 2000. [4] Kuntson E.O. and George A.C.,Radon, thoron, and decay products in environmental analysis and remediation,edited byR.A.Meyers,John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1998, pp. 4045-4068. [6] Richardson, Alicia, Assessing Exposure to Radon and Radiation from Granite Countertops-Part 2 Radon, 2009. [7] http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/tenorm/granite-countertops.html. [8] EPA, Assessment of Risks from Radon in Homes, EPA 402-R-03-003, June 2003. [9] ICRP, 1993. Protection against Radon-222 at Home and at Work. ICRP Publication 65. Ann. ICRP 23 (2). [10] Mohammad M. Abu-Samreh, Indoor Radon-222 Concentration Measurements During The Summer Season Of Year 2000 In Some Houses In The Western Part Of Yatta City, The Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, Volume 30, Number 2A. 2005, pp. 343-349.
Journal of Radiation Safety and Measurement
Volume 2, Issue 1
June 2013
Pages 11-14

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