First Steps towards a National Approach for Radon Survey in Romanian Schools (original) (raw)
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The indoor radon survey in Serbian schools: can it reflect also the general population exposure?
A systematic indoor radon survey in elementary schools of Serbia is underway since 2008. Its current first phase covers all elementary schools in predominantly rural communities of Southern Serbia. The design of the survey, its implementation and the current state of its realization is shortly described. Part of this paper is devoted to discussion of the question if this survey could produce results representative also of the radon concentration in dwellings and of radon exposure of the general population, discussing some statistical aspects of representativity which arose during the work, namely, if the implementation leads to an unbiased estimate of the targeted quantities.
In this paper the results of radon concentration measurements performed in 207 schools in 7 communities of Southern Serbia are presented. The annual radon concentration varied from 17 Bqm -3 to 428 Bq m -3 with a median value of 96 Bq m -3 . The arithmetic mean (AM) of the 207 annual averages was 118 Bq m -3 with a standard deviation (SD) of 78 Bq m -3 . The best distribution fitting of radon concentration by log-normal function was obtained. The log-normal parameters are the following: geometric mean (GM) = 97 Bq m -3 , geometric standard deviation (GSD) = 1.9. In addition, a spatial distribution of the indoor radon concentration over the investigated areas is observed.
Exposure Due to Indoor Radon in Bulgarian Schools
Aerosol and Air Quality Research
Indoor radon exposure is the largest contributor to population dose from natural sources. Radon as a natural radioactive gas could accumulate to harmful levels in buildings, such as homes and buildings with public access. In order to assess the exposure due to radon in school the results of indoor radon measurements in 55 state school buildings in 7 municipalities located in one district in southern Bulgaria are considered in this paper. The survey was carried out with passive CR-39 etched track detectors. Radon concentrations ranged from 17 to 868 Bq.m-3 , with a geometric mean of 117 Bq.m-3 and a geometric standard deviation of 1.78. The findings revealed that in 30 % of the measured buildings the radon concentration was higher than the national reference level of 300 Bq.m-3. The statistically significant difference in indoor radon concentrations between municipalities (KW, р < 0.001) was obtained. The research was also focused on parameters affecting radon concentration levels such as type of room and floor location. The estimated annual effective dose of 0.39 to 1.07 mSv.y-1 , applying the ICRP and UNSCEAR methodology, was calculated for students. The results of the measurements were provided to the administrative authorities and measures were proposed to improve the air in school buildings with high radon levels.
2014
Given its relevance as hazard to human health, today almost unanimously accepted, indoor Rn is increasingly subject to regulation with the purpose of reducing the risk. While so far, investigations were mostly focused on domestic indoor Rn, attention has been extended to working environments, as people spend good (or bad) part of their life in offices, schools, shops, factories and other workplaces. In the recently issued European Basic Safety Standards (BSS 2014) the same maximum reference levels for indoor Rn concentration, long-term mean 300 Bq/m³, were therefore set for dwellings and workplaces. Many national and regional indoor surveys exist for dwellings, but only a few for schools and kindergartens and little for other workplaces. In particular schools are given increasing attention because they are workplaces for students and teachers alike, and avoiding unnecessary risk to children is naturally seen as an especially important objective. It must be assumed that buildings on ...
Radon Concentrations in Schools and Kindergartens in Kragujevac City, Central Serbia
CLEAN - Soil, Air, Water, 2015
Measurements of radon activity concentrations have been conducted in public kindergartens, primary, and secondary schools in Kragujevac City. This study represents the first step towards radon mapping of Central Serbia. Passive discriminative radon/ thoron detectors (so called UFO) were used for monitoring. The radon calibration coefficient of 0.026 (track/cm 2)/(Bq m À3 day) was calculated by exposing the UFO detectors in a Rn chamber monitored by a RAD7 device. The Rn concentration was in the range of 27-145 Bq m À3 in kindergartens and 25-86 Bq m À3 in schools. The value of the arithmetic mean was 59.6 Bq m À3 and the standard deviation was 25.6 Bq m À3. The distribution of the results was well fitted by log-normal function. No significant correlation between measured activity concentrations and periods of building constructions was found.
Dose assessment due to radon exposure in dwellings, schools and kindergarten
2015
Radon concentrations measurements were performed in 40 dwellings, 35 elementary schools and 5 kindergartens in 3 municipalities in Republic of Macedonia by two types CR-39 nuclear track detectors. In the dwellings, the measurements were performed with detectors commercially named RSKS for one year period from June 2013 to May 2014 in the most occupied rooms of the buildings: living room or bedroom. The detectors type Gamma 1 were exposed for the same period in the kindergartens playroom or bedroom. The measurements in schools were performed in one classroom with paired Gamma 1 detectors. One detector was exposed during the same period as detectors in the dwellings and kindergarten and other in the period of the school year duration, starting September 2013 to May 2014. In order to check reproducibility of the results paired RSKS and Gamma 1 detectors were exposed in five schools. We accepted equality of the results at 95% confidence level. The distribution of the measured data in al...
Measurement of indoor radon concentration in kindergartens in Sofia, Bulgaria
Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 2014
As a part of the systematic survey of indoor radon in Bulgaria, the indoor radon concentration was measured in 296 kindergarten buildings of Sofia city during 3 months (February to April 2013) using the CR-39 nuclear tract detectors. In 256 buildings at least two frequently occupied rooms (mainly playrooms) were observed. Altogether, 922 measurements were performed. The frequency distribution was well described by the lognormal function. The measured radon concentrations range between 9 and 1415 Bq m 23 with a geometric mean of 101 Bq m 23 (2.08) and an arithmetic mean 132 Bq m 23 with a standard deviation of 118 Bq m 23 . The radon concentrations obtained in this survey were compared with that in Sofia city dwellings obtained from a previous study. A detailed statistical analysis of the building factors was presented.
Building and Environment, 2021
This paper presents an evaluation of the indoor radon spatial variation between and within school buildings. Radon measurements were carried out in 331 rooms of 16 school buildings in 5 municipalities of Plovdiv province, Bulgaria. They were performed with CR-39 nuclear track detectors exposed over an 8-month period from September 2018 to April 2019. The arithmetic and geometric means together with corresponding standard deviation and geometric standard deviations of the indoor radon concentration were 160 ± 175 Bq/m 3 and 108 */2.35 Bq/m 3 , respectively. The best data fit was achieved with a Weibull 3-parameter function (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, p = 0.2916). The effect of the school location and various building characteristics on the indoor radon concentration distribution within a province was investigated. The analyses showed that the factor "year of building construction", which is in general related with the technical condition of the building, imposed the highest impact on the indoor radon concentration difference between schools. The vertical and horizontal components of the indoor radon spatial variability within a school were analysed as well. The results concerning the radon variation within schools could be used to optimize future radon school surveys. In this paper, quality control for indoor radon measurement procedures and radon health impact assessments was included.
Radon measurement in schools and kindergartens (Kremikovtsi municipality, Bulgaria
Romanian Journal of Physics
Indoor radon concentration was measured in all schools (n = 9) and kindergartens (n = 7) of Kremikovtsi district, Bulgaria, using passive integrating electret detectors. The study was based on two successive: short and long term set measurements. In first phase, the short term detectors were deployed in all frequently occupied rooms in ground floor. The exposure was during the summer vacation (2011) under close condition with 10 days duration. From the results of short term measurement we have found that the radon concentration in 4 schools and 5 kindergartens were above the recommended National level of 300 Bq m-3 for existing buildings. In order to confirm the initial shortterm measurement long-term measurements for the period from September 2011 to April 2012, in the same buildings of schools and kindergartens were performed under normal functional conditions (second phase). Comparing the results obtained from the short-term measurements under close conditions with the results of...
Some Results of a Radon Survey in 207 Serbian Schools
2013
In this paper the results of radon concentration measurements performed in 207 schools in 7 communities of Southern Serbia are presented. The annual radon concentration varied from 17 Bqm -3 to 428 Bq m -3 with a median value of 96 Bq m -3 . The arithmetic mean (AM) of the 207 annual averages was 118 Bq m -3 with a standard deviation (SD) of 78 Bq m -3 . The best distribution fitting of radon concentration by log-normal function was obtained. The log-normal parameters are the following: geometric mean (GM) = 97 Bq m -3 , geometric standard deviation (GSD) = 1.9. In addition, a spatial distribution of the indoor radon concentration over the investigated areas is observed.