A realistic estimate, incorporating radon concentration distributions, is given of the total number of local lung cancer incidences attributable to radiation from radon and its decay products in the residential environment in a community with an increased average indoor-air radon concentration. An estimate of the currently prevented lung cancer incidences due to past mitigations is presented. F...

Indoor radon concentrations were measured in dwellings of the Puglia region in Southern Italy using LR-115 passive detectors. The results show that the radon concentrations varied from 15 ± 2 to 2166 ± 133 Bq/m³ with a geometric mean of 114 Bq/m³ and a geometric standard deviation of 2.3. An analysis on the factors affecting radon concentration such as age of the dwellings, floors, and stories,...

Usually, phosphate deposits contain 238U and 232Th in addition to their decay products. Due to their different pathways in the environment, the 238U/232Th activity concentration ratio usually found to be greater than unity in phosphate sediments. The presence of these radionuclides creates a potential need to control exposure of workers in the mining and processing activities of the phosphate m...

Radon diffusion through soil and into air is investigated. The solution of the relevant diffusion equation is given using the explicit finite difference method. Results from a two-medium model (soil-air) are compared to those from a simplified single-medium model (soil alone). The latter are an underestimate in early stages of the diffusion process. Later on, the two models match closely and ei...

To better understand the effect of various test durations on indoor radon measurement results in Canada, Monte Carlo simulations were performed for test durations of 1 month (30 d), 2 months (61 d), 3 months (91 d) and 6 months (183 d). For each of the specified test durations, a total of 1500 Monte Carlo simulations were performed. Each simulation was compared with the result of a 1-y measurem...

Background: Radon and thoron are invisible, odorless, heavy and radioactive gases which are ubiquitously present in dwellings and in the environment. In the present work, seasonal variation of indoor radon, thoron and their progeny concentrations has been studied in the dwellings of industrially polluted cities in District Faridabad, Haryana and District Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. Materials and ...

Exposure to radon gas is the second most common cause of lung cancer after smoking. A large number of studies have reported that exposure to indoor radon, even at low concentrations, is associated with lung cancer in the general population. This paper reviewed studies from several countries to assess the attributable risk (AR) of lung cancer death due to indoor radon exposure and the effect of ...

The effect of indoor gamma dose rate, permeability of soil, substructure, and ventilation habits of inhabitants were studied using data of 84 low rise residential houses collected in an area of enhanced indoor radon concentration. The radon concentrations varied from 30 to more than 5000 Bqm. Cross-tabulation, comparisons of means and multiplicative models were used to test the significance of ...

Background: Several epidemiological studies conducted on underground miner’s show that exposure to elevated levels of radioactive radon gas is expected to increase the risk of lung cancer. Relative risk of lung cancer is almost linear with radon exposure. Elevated concentrations of radon are not only reported within mines but also for closed indoor environment of general public houses....

OBJECTIVE To determine the number of deaths from lung cancer related to radon in the home and to explore the cost effectiveness of alternative policies to control indoor radon and their potential to reduce lung cancer mortality. DESIGN Cost effectiveness analysis. SETTING United Kingdom. DATA SOURCES Epidemiological data on risks from indoor radon and from smoking, vital statistics on dea...