Indoor radon mapping and its relation to geology in Hungary

A statistical evaluation of the influence of housing characteristics and geogenic radon potential on indoor radon concentrations in France

“…The factors are those that have been frequently reported in the literature (Andersen et al, 2007;Gunby et al, 1993;Hauri et al, 2012;Hunter et al, 2009;Makelainen et al, 2001;Paillard et al, 2012;Papaefthymiou et al, 2003;Pirard et al, 2000;Sundal et al, 2004). In this study, lifestyle characteristics, such as air renewal frequency and ventilation, were not, or not strongly, associated with indoor radon concentration.…”

“…The finding is consistent with those of previous French studies (Billon et al, 2005;Gambard et al, 2000;Kirchner et al, 2006). Compared to other European countries, indoor radon levels in France are similar to those in Belgium (Poffijn et al, 1985) and Spain (Quindos et al, 1993), higher than those in the United Kingdom (Green et al, 2002), and lower than those in Switzerland (Hauri et al, 2012), Hungary (Minda et al, 2009), Austria (Friedmann, 2005) and Finland (Mäkeläinen et al, 2009).…”

“…Earlier studies demonstrated the major influence of geology on indoor radon concentrations (Ielsch et al, 2002;Miles and Appleton, 2005;Minda et al, 2009;Sundal et al, 2004). In the model reported by Appleton and Miles (2010), 25% of the total variation in indoor radon concentrations in England and Wales was a n, the 'nugget effect' is the fraction of the spatial variance of the logarithm of the radon concentrations (log RC) that is related to spatially unstructured micro-local factors (see textx 2.4).…”

Impact of the deeper geological basement on soil gas and indoor radon concentrations in areas of Quaternary fluvial sediments (Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic)

“…The glacial sediments of Slovenia (Popit and Vaupotic 2002) also demonstrate slightly higher indoor radon concentrations compared with other Holocene sediments, whereas the indoor concentrations are dependent on the provenience of glacial material (higher on the sediments with tonalite and crystalline schist contents). The increased indoor radon concentrations were also measured in the Quaternary fluvial sediments of Békés unit (SW of Great Hungarian plain) (Minda et al 2009); however, the geological reason of higher indoor radon concentrations is not clear yet (possible influence of heterogeneous gravel material or influence of deeper geological basement). The above-discussed studies show two different ways of radon behaviour according to the geomorphological type of relief.…”

A geostatistical approach for mapping and uncertainty assessment of geogenic radon gas in soil in an area of southern Italy

“…Rn) is the radioactive decay product of radium-226 ( 226 Ra) and is a colorless, odorless, and almost chemically inert radioactive gas. Radium-226 ( 226 Ra) is in turn one of the products of the natural decay of uranium and is ubiquitous in rocks and soils, albeit in variable concentrations depending on the specific mineralogy (Tanner 1964;Gundersen 1992;Gundersen et al 1992;Choubey and Ramola 1997;Choubey et al 1997Choubey et al , 1999Clamp and Pritchard 1998;Minda et al 2009). Radon-222 has a short half-life (3.82 days) allowing it time to escape through the soil and into the air before decaying by emission of an a particle into a series of short lived radioactive progeny (Darby et al 2005).…”