A geogenic approach for the Radon monitoring and the exposure assessment at a regional scale: The results of the Rad_Campania project

Abstract

Abstract. The aim of this paper is to analyse and discuss the results of the regional program Rad Campania for the monitoring and the assessment of the radon risk. An innovative methodology, based on a geogenic approach, was developed, supported by a comprehensive campaign of radon measurement performed in soil gas, natural waters, drinking natural water samples and indoor air. Data refer to field measurements carried out in three provinces of the Campania Region (Italy): Salerno, Avellino and Benevento. The programme was completed with the main purpose to investigate the peculiarities of the radon issue at a provincial scale and to redact a map of the radon potential from soil as a tool for authorities to recognise critical areas (“Radon prone areas”) to monitor. Since the experience demonstrates that the high radon potential from soil is not indicative of high indoor radon concentrations, in this paper the authors have tried to identify a possible general correlation between geological features of the soil and structural characteristics of the buildings, elaborating more in depth all data collected. The main purpose is to categorize and analyse the performance of different kind of construction, typical of the local area, in order to develop, in a future work, an indicator of the building performances as a useful tool, for authorities, to recognise constructions potentially more exposed to high indoor radon activity concentrations. Results and perspectives have been discussed.

Alpha Spectrometry of Radon Short-Lived Progeny in Drinking Water and Assessment of the Public Effective Dose: Results from the Cilento Area, Province of Salerno, Southern Italy

“…The CONSAC company was chosen as a pilot aqueduct consortium during the extensive in situ measurement campaigns because it manages a great number of springs (around 60 springs) in the Cilento area. The screening was carried out in the framework of regional research programs, aimed at the investigation and assessment of the impact of radon in natural and anthropic environments on the territory of the Campania region, Southern Italy [ 11 , 12 , 13 ].…”

A Novel Strategy for the Assessment of Radon Risk Based on Indicators

“…This limitation results in thinking that in the assessment of a complex phenomenon, some simplification could be considered in order to facilitate applications. Since, despite the accuracy, the predictive capacity is not much better than that resulting from a simplified approach, here, a more simplified index is proposed on the basis of a previous investigation done by the authors [26]. Based on field measurements, the easy to perform and technically simple Geogenic Rad-Campania (GRC) approach enables one to redact quite accurate cartographies of the radon potential from soils, from small to large scales.…”

“…Based on field measurements, the easy to perform and technically simple Geogenic Rad-Campania (GRC) approach enables one to redact quite accurate cartographies of the radon potential from soils, from small to large scales. This method has already been successfully applied at provincial and local scales [26,27]. The level of risk is expressed in classes, from very low to very high, as a combination of the level of exposure and hazard.…”

Preface to “Understanding volcanic processes through geophysical and volcanological data investigations: some case studies from Italian sites (EGU2019 GMPV5.11 session, COV10 S01.11 session)”

“…In the study of , the crustal response to external excitations of medium/long-period tidal constituents in terms of ground tilting at Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy) was evaluated by applying a polarization analysis (Montalbetti and Kanasewich, 1970) on borehole tiltmeter time series, from 2015 to 2019. Well defined azimuth directions associated to tidal periodicities (diurnal S1, lunar monthly Mm and lunar fortnightly Mf) resulted to be controlled by the local stress field distribution and the rheology.…”

“…The paper of Cusano et al (2020) illustrated the properties of the hydrothermal/volcanic system of Ischia Island on long (background seismic noise) and short (earthquakes) time scales. The seismo-volcanic source dynamics of the shallow hydrothermal system, in the northern sector of the Island, was explored throughout the analysis of the seismicity recorded pre and post the M d 4.0 earthquake of 21 August 2017, both in time and frequency domain (Independent Component Analysis, Hyvärinen et al, 2001; energy pattern; polarization properties, Montalbetti and Kanasewich, 1970). The results suggested that noise and earthquakes were ascribable to a common phenomenon of fluid-rocks interaction.…”