Characterizing atmospheric controls on winter urban pollution in a topographic basin setting using Radon-222

Kikaj, Dafina; Chambers, Scott D.; Kobal, Matjaž; Crawford, Jagoda; Vaupotič, Janja

doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2019.104838

Cited by 18 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Radon can reach the atmosphere also from ground waters, natural gas, oceans and because of human’s activities. Due to its properties, atmospheric radon (outdoor radon), measured as radon concentration in air (Bq m −3 ), radon flux measured in radon exhaled per surface unit and per time unit (Bq m −2 s −1 ) and radon in soil gas (Bq m −3 ) are used in different scientific disciplines: (1) as a tracer gas for the estimation of greenhouse gases [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]; (2) to investigate mixing processes in the atmospheric boundary layer and the evolution of air pollution [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]; (3) as a tracer for dynamic processes such as: volcanic activity and earthquake prediction, caves air exchange, groundwater movements [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]; (4) as a tracer of Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (NAPL) contamination [ 22 ]; (5) to estimate the health risk due to exposure to radon and its progeny [ 23 , 24 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outdoor Radon as a Tool to Estimate Radon Priority Areas—A Literature Overview

Čeliković

Pantelić

Vukanac

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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Doses from the exposure to outdoor radon are typically an order of magnitude smaller than those from indoor radon, causing a greater interest on investigation of the latter for radiation protection issues. As a consequence, assessment of radon priority areas (RPA) is mainly based on indoor radon measurements. Outdoor radon measurements might be needed to guarantee a complete estimation of radiological risk and may help to improve the estimation of RPA. Therefore, authors have analysed the available literature on outdoor radon to give an overview of outdoor radon surveys and potential correlation with indoor radon and estimation of RPA. The review has shown that outdoor radon surveys were performed at much smaller scale compared to indoor radon. Only a few outdoor radon maps were produced, with a much smaller density, covering a larger area, and therefore putting doubt on the representativeness of this data. Due to a large variety of techniques used for outdoor radon measurements and requirement to have detectors with a high sensitivity and resistance to harsh environmental conditions, a standardised measurement protocol should be derived. This is no simple endeavour since there are more applications in different scientific disciplines for outdoor radon measurements compared to indoor radon.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outdoor Radon as a Tool to Estimate Radon Priority Areas—A Literature Overview

Čeliković

Pantelić

Vukanac

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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“…The correlation of C Rn-out with T out is weakly negative ( r = 0.34), and of C Rn-out with the pressure time gradient (∆ P /∆ t ) in the hourly scale is very weakly negative ( r = 0.09). A high correlation was not expected because outdoor 222 Rn concentration is a sum of local (exhalation from the ground) and synoptic (remote) sources [ 15 ]. The contribution of each source was not sought because, in this study, only the outdoor 222 Rn concentration during the ventilation of the apartment was needed for the simulations.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…222 Rn is primarily formed by the α-transformation of radium ( 226 Ra) in the earth’s crust, from where it migrates towards the surface via diffusion and advection and exhales in the atmosphere. In general, outdoor radon concentrations are low (about 10 Bq m −3 ) [ 13 ], depending on the geological characteristics of the terrain and the atmospheric mixing state [ 14 , 15 ]. On the other hand, indoor radon concentrations are usually higher by one order of magnitude (up to several 100 Bq m −3 ) or even more (up to several 1000 Bq m −3 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Ventilation Efficiency as Simultaneous Control of Radon and Carbon Dioxide Levels in Indoor Air Applying Transient Modelling

Dovjak

Vene

Vaupotič

2022

IJERPH

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The impact of ventilation efficiency on radon (222Rn) and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the indoor air of a residential building was studied by applying transient data analysis within the CONTAM 3.4 program. Continuous measurements of 222Rn and CO2 concentrations, together with basic meteorological parameters, were carried out in an apartment (floor area about 27 m2) located in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Throughout the experiment (October 3–15), frequent ventilation (several times per day), poor ventilation (once to twice per day) and no ventilation scenarios were applied, and the exact ventilation and occupancy schedule were recorded. Based on the measurements, a transient simulation of 222Rn and CO2 concentrations was performed for six sets of scenarios, where the design ventilation rate (DVR) varied based on the ventilation requirements and recommendations. On the days of frequent ventilation, a moderate correlation between the measured and simulated concentrations (r = 0.62 for 222Rn, r = 0.55 for CO2) was found. The results of the simulation indicated the following optimal DVRs: (i) 36.6 m3 h−1 (0.5 air changes per hour, ACH) to ensure a CO2 concentration below 1000 ppm and a 222Rn concentration below 100 Bq m−3; and (ii) 46.9 m3 h−1 (0.7 ACH) to ensure a CO2 concentration below 800 ppm. These levels are the most compatible with the 5C_Cat I (category I of indoor environmental quality, defined by EN 16798-1:2019) scenario, which resulted in concentrations of 656 ± 121 ppm for CO2 and 57 ± 13 Bq m−3 for 222Rn. The approach presented is applicable to various types of residential buildings with high overcrowding rates, where a sufficient amount of air volume to achieve category I indoor environmental quality has to be provided. Lower CO2 and 222Rn concentrations indoors minimise health risk, which is especially important for protecting sensitive and fragile occupants.

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“…Hourly variations of simulated and observed mixing ratios for NO x and O 3 are illustrated in Figure . Analysis of SO 2 simulation results are included in the Supporting Information (Figures S6–S8) because it was not the primary species impacting PM 2.5 concentrations in SLV during PCAPs. ,− There were clear day-of-week patterns of NO x concentrations in the observations, that is, high on weekdays and low on weekends. The weekly maximum NO x concentration was enhanced during PCAP events.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Confronting Uncertainties of Simulated Air Pollution Concentrations during Persistent Cold Air Pool Events in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah

Sun

Ivey

Baker

et al. 2021

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Air pollutant accumulations during wintertime persistent cold air pool (PCAP) events in mountain valleys are of great concern for public health worldwide. Uncertainties associated with the simulated meteorology under stable conditions over complex terrain hinder realistic simulations of air quality using chemical transport models. We use the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model to simulate the gaseous and particulate species for 1 month in January 2011 during the Persistent Cold Air Pool Study (PCAPS) in the Salt Lake Valley (SLV), Utah (USA). Results indicate that the temporal variability associated with the elevated NOx and PM2.5 concentrations during PCAP events was captured by the model (r = 0.20 for NOx and r = 0.49 for PM2.5). However, concentrations were not at the correct magnitude (NMB = −35/12% for PM2.5 during PCAPs/non-PCAPs), where PM2.5 was underestimated during PCAP events and overestimated during non-PCAP periods. The underestimated PCAP strength is represented by valley heat deficit, which contributed to the underestimated PM2.5 concentrations compared with observations due to the model simulating more vertical mixing and less stable stratification than what was observed. Based on the observations, the dominant PM2.5 species were ammonium and nitrate. We provide a discussion that aims to investigate the emissions and chemistry model uncertainties using the nitrogen ratio method and the thermodynamic ammonium nitrate regime method.

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Characterizing atmospheric controls on winter urban pollution in a topographic basin setting using Radon-222

Cited by 18 publications

References 54 publications

Outdoor Radon as a Tool to Estimate Radon Priority Areas—A Literature Overview

Outdoor Radon as a Tool to Estimate Radon Priority Areas—A Literature Overview

Analysis of Ventilation Efficiency as Simultaneous Control of Radon and Carbon Dioxide Levels in Indoor Air Applying Transient Modelling

Confronting Uncertainties of Simulated Air Pollution Concentrations during Persistent Cold Air Pool Events in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah

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