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

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jan 7;19(2):662. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19020662.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: indoor radon concentrations; literature overview; outdoor radon concentrations; radiation risk; radon priority areas.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollutants, Radioactive* / analysis
  • Air Pollution, Indoor* / analysis
  • Housing
  • Radiation Monitoring*
  • Radon* / analysis

Substances

  • Air Pollutants, Radioactive
  • Radon