We measured radon (222Rn) concentrations in Iowa and Minnesota and found that unusually high annual average radon concentrations occur outdoors in portions of central North America. In some areas, outdoor concentrations exceed the national average indoor radon concentration. The general spatial patterns of outdoor radon and indoor radon are similar to the spatial distribution of radon progeny i...

background: radioactive substances are water chemical contaminants. in this study, the concentration of radon was measured in drinking water supplies of taft villages (part of dehshir-baft fault located in central part of iran) and also shirkooh area with granite rocks (containing uranium). materials and methods: this cross sectional research was conducted in fall 2013 and winter 2014 on the so...

Radon and progeny ((218)Po, (214)Pb, (214)Bi and (214)Po) in thermal spas are well known radioactive pollutants identified for additional radiation burden of patients due to the activity concentration peaks which appear during bath treatment or due to drinking of waters of high radon content. This burden affects additionally the working personnel of the spas. The present paper has focused on th...

Radon gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer, causing thousands of deaths annually. It can be a problem for people or animals in houses, workplaces, schools or any building. Therefore, its mitigation has become essential to avoid health problems and to prevent radon from interfering in radioactive measurements. This study describes the implementation of radon mitigation systems at a rad...

The ideal facility for assessing the quality of radon measurements at environmental levels consists of: (1) an instrument whose response to radon and its progeny is determined from measurements of a certified or standard 226Ra source, and (2) a calibration room with a known radon concentration. The linkage between these two elements and additional quality control requirements are discussed here...

The starting point of the Spanish experience in the study of High Background Radiation Areas is the development of a nationwide indoor radon survey carried out in 1988. This campaign, belonging to the first Spanish Radon Framework, consisted of approximately 2000 indoor radon measurements which represented a valuable basis to face rigorously the radon issue in Spain. Together but indepently fro...

Radon concentration alone may not be an adequate surrogate to measure for lung cancer risk in all residential radon epidemiologic lung cancer studies. The dose delivered to the lungs per unit radon exposure can vary significantly with exposure conditions. These dose-effectiveness variations can be comparable to spatial and temporal factor variations in many situations. New technologies that use...

To precisely measure radon concentrations in purified air supplied to the Super-Kamiokande detector as a buffer gas, we have developed a highly sensitive radon detector with an intrinsic background as low as ± 0.33 0.07 mBq/m. In this article, we discuss the construction and calibration of this detector as well as results of its application to the measurement and monitoring of the buffer gas la...

The largest fraction of the natural radiation exposure we receive comes from a radioactive gas, radon and its decay products (nearly 50%). The radon gas can enter to the body via respiring, drinking and eating and caused damage to respiratory and digestion systems. Also radium-226 is widely distributed in the environment. When a person ingests radium, this element deposits in bones and cause to...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the ecological association between indoor radon concentration and acute leukaemia incidence among children under 15 years of age in the 348 geographical units (zones d'emploi, ZE) of France between 1990 and 1998. During that period, 4015 cases were registered by the French National Registry of Childhood Leukaemia and Lymphoma. Exposure assessment was ...