Coping with radon

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. Provides a map showing the average distribution and dosage rates of radon over the UK. Describes the calculation of how many deaths result from a given exposure to radon. Finds radon probably causes more deaths than asbestos.