The effects of geology and the impact of seasonal correction factors on indoor radon levels: a case study approach

Investigations on indoor radon in Austria, Part 1: Seasonality of indoor radon concentration

“…In the UK, for example, correction factors have been proposed for seasonally standardizing Rn values. Gillmore et al (2005) have shown, however, that this rule, while describing an average behaviour, may not be applicable in individual cases and may lead to wrong estimates of the annual mean. Also Friedmann (2005) quotes cases in which this rule does not hold, namely houses situated on slopes.…”

Time-integrating radon gas measurements in domestic premises: comparison of short-, medium- and long-term exposures

“…1 (Miles and Appleton, 2005), was designated as a radon Affected Area in 1992 by the UK National Radiological Protection Board (now part of the Health Protection Agency), and has a mean annual radon concentration of 70 Bq m ÿ3 , with around 5600 homes in the county anticipated to exhibit radon concentrations in excess of the UK Action Level of 200 Bq m ÿ3 (Green et al, 2002). Some aspects of this study have already been reported Denman et al, 2004a,b;Denman et al, in press;Gillmore et al, 2005). The implications of the results are discussed and recommendations arising from them, particularly the value and reliability of a short-term testing protocol, are made.…”

“…In addition to the natural daily cycle, other longer temporal and spatial cycles are evident, related to occupancy, weather conditions and seasonal factors, indoor radon levels being generally higher in winter than in summer. As the risk of lung cancer increases with increasing radon exposure, the preferred measure of this risk is the long-term average radon level, the current UK recommendation being the use of three-month measurements in conjunction with the application of a Seasonal Correction Factor (Pinel et al, 1995;Gillmore et al, 2005). In some circumstances, however, particularly during the house-sale process or when confirming that safety measures in new homes are satisfactory, a measurement extending over three months is impractical or inappropriate.…”

A reconnaissance study of radon concentrations in Hamadan city, Iran

“…The movement of water through the fan sequence will also influence transport of the gas. The importance of the existence of permeable ground materials where radon concentrations are concerned was noted by Gillmore et al (2005) in the UK, Solomon (1993) in the USA (the latter with respect to alluvial fans), and Smethurst et al (2008) in Norway.…”

“…Gillmore et al (2005), Grattan et al (2004) andel-Rishi et al (2007) noted elsewhere that raised indoor radon concentrations can occur in regions that have been mined, partly because of the presence of associated uneconomic uranium minerals, partly because of introduced ground permeability (Appleton, 2005). In the Hamadan area there are 142 active mines, although mostly for building materials (Markaz-e aamaar-e Iran, 1996).…”