Effectiveness of airborne radon progeny assessment for atmospheric studies

Impacts of exposure to air pollution, radon and climate drivers on the COVID-19 pandemic in Bucharest, Romania: A time series study

“…Another important characteristic of air pollutants particulate matter is its associated natural radioactivity, which refers to the presence of α- and β-emitting radioisotopes attached to particulate matter, which is mostly attributed to radon - 222 Rn progeny that is present in the atmosphere due to anthropogenic, terrestrial or cosmogenic sources ( Crova et al, 2021 ; Zoran et al, 2012 ; Blomberg et al, 2020 ; Hosoda et al, 2021 ; Penache and Zoran, 2019a ). Radon ( 222 Rn) is a noble gas emitted from the Earth's crust (soil, water, vegetation) that could decay into short-lived ( 218 Po, 214 Pb, 214 Bi, 214 Po) and long-lived radionuclides ( 210 Pb, 210 Po).…”

Cumulative effects of air pollution and climate drivers on COVID-19 multiwaves in Bucharest, Romania

“…As a novelty, this study considers also contribution of natural radioactive gas radon- 222 Rn and its progeny, α- and β-emitting radioisotopes short-lived ( 218 Po, 214 Pb, 214 Bi, 214 Po) and long-lived radionuclides ( 210 Pb, 210 Po) in the lower atmosphere ( Hosoda et al, 2021 ; Penache, Zoran, 2019a ; Crova et al, 2021 ; Blomberg et al, 2020 ; Zoran et al, 2012 ). Is well known that most of its long-lived progeny attach to aerosol particles (0.1–2.5 µm) ( Grundel and Porstendörfer, 2004 , Zoran et al, 2015 ), which can be inhaled and deposited on lung, continuing to decay and produce high α-radiation exposure to the respiratory system, being associated with lung inflammation or neuroinflammation ( Sugiyama et al, 2020 , Loffredo et al, 2021 , Asadi et al, 2020 , Seposo et al, 2020 , Blomberg et al, 2019 , Seltenrich, 2019 ).…”