Radon Survey in Kalamata (Greece)

Abstract

A national radon survey is still lacking for Greece. Some groups have carried out several more or less local or extended radon surveys and valuable experience has been gained. After the first preliminary survey carried out by our group, where 500 Kodak LR-115 etched track detectors were placed in Greek schools and dwellings for one year, indoor radon measurements were continued by placing the same number of detectors in a restricted area, covering the city of Kalamata (a medium size city with 60,000 inhabitants), situated in the south of Peloponnese. Although Kalamata was not of special radon interest, the local authorities insisted on knowing for their citizens' sake the level of this natural radiation. At first, the intention was to use a different method of organisation and distribution of the etched-track detectors from the previous one, attempting mainly to acquire more reliable results and to collect as many detectors as possible. Secondly, it was of great importance to test the statistics of the indoor radon concentrations for a rather small area, and thirdly, to estimate independently the annual absorbed dose by children, taking into account radon concentrations measured both in their home and at school. The set of detectors' readings (about 370), revealed, in general, lower values for Kalamata, compared to the ones found in the preliminary radon survey in Greece and almost all concentrations were found to be below the NRPB action level (200 Bq.m-3).

Indoor radon levels in Greek schools

“…In Greece, two relatively large radon surveys have been carried out from 1995e1998 in 1277 dwellings (Nikolopoulos et al, 2002) and from 1999e2006 in 561 workplaces (Clouvas et al, 2007) respectively. Smaller surveys concerning radon measurements only in schools were performed by Papaefthymiou and Georgiou (2007) in the town of Patras, Geranios et al (2001) in the town of Kalamata and Clouvas et al (2009) in the area of Xanthi.…”

Assessment of the Effectiveness of Radon Screening Programs in Reducing Lung Cancer Mortality

“…This screening option therefore represents the avenue with the most promise. Indeed, radon measurements were conducted systematically in schools in the United Kingdom, ( 11 ) Sweden, ( 7 ) Slovakia, ( 47 ) north‐east Italy, ( 48 ) and in the Greek city of Kalamata, ( 49 ) as well as in a certain number of school buildings in Japan ( 50 ) and in British Columbia. ( 51 )…”

First Steps towards a National Approach for Radon Survey in Romanian Schools

“…Due to the fact that school buildings are workplaces of high occupancy, monitoring indoor radon levels is of utmost importance for an adequate risk assessment [8,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Many countries have already defined protocols for radon measurements in schools.…”

“…Systematic surveys in schools are thus considered a significant component of a national radon program, and numerous countries have already carried out such surveys, on the basis of the protocols or national/international recommendations [22]. In Europe, radon surveys have been carried out in schools from different parts of Italy [12], Slovenia [13], Serbia [14], Greece [15][16][17], Ireland [18], Macedonia [11], and others. Overall, these surveys provide overwhelming evidence that radon may pose a real problem in schools in many European countries.…”