An effective way of reducing the level of radon in dwellings is to extract air from beneath the ground floor. This is usually achieved by mechanical ventilation or by the use of a radon sump. However, in some circumstances, these remedial measures may lower the air pressure inside the dwelling. In a small number of cases, this causes combustion gases from open-flued combustion appliances, such as open fires, to spill into the living spaces. Spillage of this type is potentially hazardous, and should always be avoided.
During the period August 1993-0ctober 1994 a study was undertaken throughout British Telecommunications pie to assess occupational exposure to radon. This paper is concerned only with that portion of the work concerned with underground structures. The results show that radon can build up to very high concentrations in manholes and implies a significant risk to those who need to work in them.
Remedial measures to prevent soil gas infiltration have been implemented on many buildings affected by intrusion of radon, water vapour, methane and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs ). The success of these measures has been well documented for gases such as radon; however similar detailed documentation was not readily available for methane or other vocs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of four different remedial solutions installed on houses. All houses tested in this study had the potential of methane intrusion.
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