Estimation of Radiation Risks Associated with Radon within Residential Buildings in Okrika, Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

The presence of high indoor radon concentration in residential buildings is a major concern of the public worldwide. Measurements of the indoor radon concentration in some selected residential buildings made of different building materials within Okrika local Government Area, in Rives State, Nigeria, was carried out using a Corentium Digital Radon Detector. The maximum mean value of the indoor radon concentration recorded was 19.36 ± 2.26 Bq/m 3 for mud houses, and minimum mean value of 09.35±0.78 Bq/m 3 for houses made of cemented solid blocks and floored with ceramic tiles, with an overall mean of 11.70 ± 3.28 Bq/m 3 . This value is below the range of limit of 200 and 600 Bq/m 3 recommended by ICRP for residential buildings. Values of the computed annual absorbed dose rate varied from 0.24 ± 0.01 to 0.49 ± 0.03mSvy 1 , with an overall mean of 0.30 ± 0.08 mSvy -1 . This value is lower than the recommended ICRP intervention limit of between (3-10) mSvy -1 . The computed annual equivalent dose rate ranged from 0.58 ± 0.02 to 1.17 ± 0.08 mSvy -1 , with an overall mean of 0.71 ± 0.20 mSvy -1 . This value is lower than the maximum permissible limit of 1 mSvy -1 recommended by ICRP. The computed excess life cancer risk ranged from 2.

Indoor radon concentration levels in some selected offices at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Nigeria and its attendant annual effective dose

“…Few literatures on radon levels in buildings are available in developing countries. However, in Nigeria only radon concentration levels in buildings from south-western part of the country were reported (Oni et al, 2012;Okeji et al, 2013;Ademola et al, 2015;Afolabi et al, 2015;Asere and Ajayi 2017;Obed et al, 2018;Sokari, 2018;Usikalu et al, 2018;Akabuogu et al, 2019;Chenko et al, 2019;Avwiri et al, 2020;Oladapo et al, 2020;Olaoye et al, 2020;Ndubisi et al, 2021;Asere et al, 2022;Olowookere et al, 2022). Hence, this work investigates the radon concentration levels in IBB University buildings and its effect on the occupants.…”

"Radiological Implications of Radon Levels on Human Health: Systematic Review in Nigeria"

“…Additionally, radon enters our homes through the provision of water, flour draw off, hand dug well and linking Pipeline, Secondary Siphon, Base fault, Block joint, Permeable cinder blocks, diffusion from the ground, and equipment used gas, even those that were appropriately vented allowed air drive-force gush into the home, and the supply of water, particularly from personal wells [10,13]. The majority of populace are exposed to elevated level of radon in small structures of buildings than in outsized building structures, as far as to UNSCEAR concerned [14]. The UNSCEAR was established to look by the side of the connection among inhabitants' safety toward the protected way of life of people including contractors working in the buildings engineering company and the ending project yield of any construction [6,7], the healthy status of the building structure was shown to not immediately correlate with the occupants' convenience and safety with regard to their health.…”

Assessment of Indoor Radon Gas Concentration in National Open University of Nigeria: A Case Study of Calabar Study Centre

“…The human environment is continually exposed to ionizing radiation such as radon resulting from natural radionuclides found within the earth's crust and cosmic rays originating from outside the earth's atmosphere [1]. Starting with uranium or thorium, radon is found in decay chains and its daughter are present everywhere [2]. When compared to other naturally occurring radiation sources, it exposes people to the most radiation.…”