Three different investigations of radon in Swedish dwellings are presented - a nationwide study conducted primarily to determine the collective dose to the Swedish population from exposure to radon and radon daughter, a supplementary study of newly built detached houses in order to find out whether theregulations in the Building Code prescribes acceptable radon levels in new houses built on normal ground, and measurements made by the local authorities in order to find houses with levels of radon daughters above the norm.
To develop effective monitoring and control programs for indoor radon it is important to understand the causes of the broad range of concentrations that have been observed. Measurements of indoor radon concentration and air-exchange rate in dwellings in several countries indicate that this variability arises largely from differences among structures in the rate of radon entry.
The problem of radon emission in buildings first came to light at the end of the 1970s, when a report by the Swedish National Institute of Radiation Protection revealed high radon daughter concentrations in some houses. Temporary limits on permitted concentrations in different types of dwellings were imposed in Sweden. They were related to the age of dwellings, due to the known historical use of alum shale in lightweight concrete.
Notes that the Department of the Environment is considering the implications of imposing limits for the maximum annual dose of radiation to which occupants of existing and new homes should be exposed, as recommended by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution in its report of 1984. Describes radon's properties and origins in buildings, where levels are at least ten times higher than outdoors. The occupants of some homes, chiefly on granitic soils, receive up to 100 times the national average dose from radon. Explains the units used when discussing radon.
Describes the different types of monitoring and sampling techniques that can determine the radiation burden of the general public from radon and its decay products. This is accomplished by measuring the range and distribution of radon and rad
Describes methods of predicting concentration levels of indoor air pollution in a variety of residences by using residence air infiltration rates, residence volumes, and source terms, and by making assumptions about occupant lifestyle and poll
Results of air quality measurements are presented for a group of low-leakage houses located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. A total of 46 houses were tested for formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide, radon, and humidity levels. The median level of formalde
The results of our investigations in the Federal Republic of Germany on the Rn-222 and Rn-220 daughter product concentration in dwellings and in the open air are presented. The median Rn-222 concentration indoors was approximately 4 times hig
In Sweden there are two major sources to indoor radon, the building material and radon from uranium rich soils. It is now widely accepted that indoor radon daughter concentration in Sweden, higher than 1000 Bq/m3 is most frequently caused by
In large areas of the Swiss Alps, the high radium content of rocks and soil, which results in high source terms for radon from the ground, may produce considerable indoor levels of radon in dwellings with low air infiltration. During the winter
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