Title: Measurement of indoor radon concentration in the dwellings of Western Haryana, India, for health risk assessment

Authors: Sandeep Kansal; Rohit Mehra; N.P. Singh

Addresses: Department of Physics, Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering & Technology, Bathinda 151001, Punjab, India. ' Department of Physics, B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar 144001, Punjab, India. ' Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar 144001, Punjab, India

Abstract: Indoor radon studies have been carried out in 100 dwellings of 20 villages in western districts of Haryana, India, using the solid-state nuclear track detector technique. LR-115 Type II films in the bare mode were exposed for 1 year on a quarterly basis to cover all the four seasons for the measurement of indoor radon levels. The annual average indoor radon concentration in the study area varies from 126 to 546 Bq•m^?3, with an average value of 252 Bq•m^?3. Seasonal variation of indoor radon shows higher values in winter and lower values in summer. Lifetime fatality risk assessment and annual average dose received by the residents of the study area are also calculated to be within the recommended safe limit of 3–10 mSv per year. Hence, there is no significant threat to the residents due to presence of natural radon in the dwellings.

Keywords: indoor radon concentration; India; health risks; risk assessment; dwellings; LR-115; low radiation; average dose; fatality risk; natural radon.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLR.2011.044193

International Journal of Low Radiation, 2011 Vol.8 No.2, pp.122 - 134

Published online: 07 Feb 2015 *

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